The Rogue's of Mass Effect
by Psyman21
Summary: When scouting a Red Legion secret project, fireteam Rogue's actions bring them to a new universe where the Darkness they have always fought is replaced by another form of it. Now surrounded by friend's and foes alike, both human and alien, can these legendary Guardian's change the fate of this Universe and it's inhabitants? Only time can tell.
1. Chapter 1

_'Now ain't that a sight.'_ thought a man to himself as he stared at a passing comet as his ship, accompanied by two others, flew through the blackness of space.

Calming sights such as the comet were a rarity in these days. The days when warriors of Light were constantly under siege by the forces and tools of the Darkness. When Guardian's protected the last vestige's of humanity that hid behind the walls of the Last City directly underneath the Traveler.

With everyday being spent fighting and just trying to survive, finding any semblance of calm was just so rare that it had to be savored if only for a few passing seconds.

Letting his gaze linger the man turned away from the beautiful sight and back towards his heading from the cockpit of his ship.

The man, when standing, was about six feet even and possessed a lean build like that of a runner that, save for his face, was covered in armor with a hooded cloak. The mans face was lightly tanned with the only blemish being a small scar on the right side of his cheek, his eyes were a dark brown much like his short spiky hair that fell to the nape of his neck. His armor was a complete set of Hunter class Iron Truage armor with the Omolon Meteor shader while next to him sat his helmet which was the Graviton Forfeit, which even now the ever moving purple faceplate was still in motion.

Just then his Ghost decided to appear, donned in it's Fire Victorious shell, as it then began to speak in a feminine voice filled with annoyance and a hint of impatience.

"You know Chase if you keep staring at passing comets we'll never reach the target. We're already behind schedule as is." The Ghost said to the now named Chase.

"Oh El what would I do without your guidance and amazing scheduling skills?" snarked Chase with a smirk

 _ **'I'd quit the chatter you two, readings say we're getting close to the target.'**_ Spoke a female voice through the comms that Chase instantly recognized coming from the ship on his right that was an Iron Pendragon class, same as his own.

"I know Lexi but you know I can't help but appreciate a good passing comet." Chase said to the now named Liex who then appeared as a small holograph on his right.

Being only five inches tall as a hologram Chase still knew her height to really be a short five foot six, however her hourglass figure was still pleasantly displayed in her signature Fulminator class Warlock armor, the exception being her Aeon Soul gauntlets, with only her helmet missing. Her face was pretty with light blue skin and silver eyes, and her long white hair was done up in a tight bun on her head. The only bit of flair scene on her was the small white glyph looking tattoo on her left cheek.

 _ **'Well too bad we aren't here for sightseeing. For Traveler's sake you never change, not even after you killed Ghaul.'**_ Spoke Lexi in annoyance before the third party began to speak up from his onw ship, which was the Sailing Shield class vessel bringing up the rear of the three ships.

 _ **'Come on guys do you always have to argue before a mission?'**_ Spoke a male voice in a deep yet mechanical tone as the speaker's own holographic popped up right next to Lexi's.

While the same height as Lexi in Hologram form, the actual being stood nearly seven feet tall and was very broad and built in their Titan class Winterheart armor. Yet while Lexi and Chase were composed of flesh, this character was more mechanical in nature. His 'skin' was made of a silver colored metal and whenever he spoke his mouth flashed red just like the color of his eyes. Besides that the only extra feature they possessed was the two headphone like appendages that acted like 'ears.'

"Just a little bantering between friends Cal, it's just what makes fireteam Rogue what it is." Said Chase with a smirk that was mirrored by the other two with complimentary eye rolls added into the mix.

That is what these three were, members of fireteam Rogue, the greatest team of Guardian's since the Vanguard and resident doer's of the impossible. Lexi was the resident scholar, scientist and Warlock of the team whose powers over the Light have been honed to a fine point not just with Ikora but with the famed Osiris as well. Next was Caleb-31, or Cal as he was more commonly called by his friends, he was the Titan and heavy hitter of the team who was trained by Zavala and Lord Shaxx. Finally, there was Chase, the Hunter and leader of the team who had been trained by both Cayde and Osiris.

These three had all been revived around the same time and had first met at the Cosmodrome where together they killed the Archon Priest that dwelled there. From there they did just about every mission as a team. From destroying the heart of the Black Garden, Hunting down Skolas, killing both Crota and his father Oryx and even ending the plague that killed the Iron Lords.

Their bond was strained however when Gaul had come and taken the city with the Red Legion. Cal and Lexi had been helping evacuate the civilians while Chase had gone to confront the Cabal commander, but then came the loss of their Light and therefore their powers. Through the remainder of the Red War Chase was always concerned on whether his teammates made it out of the city alive or if they were killed like so many other Guardian's due to the loss of their powers and their ability to revive. It was only during the final assault on Gaul's forces did Chase reunite with his friend's right before he was sent up to kill Gaul since he was the only Guardian who had possessed Light at the time.

With Gaul finally gone and the Traveler awoken once more, the Guardian's had finally reclaimed their home. However, that didn't mean they could rest just yet as the minions of the Darkness were still out there and waiting to take their shot at the weakened Guardians. One example already happened due to the issue with Osiris on Mercury with which fireteam Rogue became a big factor in helping the legendary Warlock put a stop to the Vex's plans.

Yet here they were again following a lead from both Osiris and the Vanguard on reports of Vex and Cabal signals coming from behind one of Jupiter's moons and they were tasked to investigate the energies and if need be, destroy the source.

"So Lexi, and other info you can give us before we rush head first into danger like always?" Asked Chase as the brains of the team pulled up all of the current info they had on the mission as he and Cal waited patiently for her to speak.

 ** _'Nothing which we don't already know unfortunately. From what has been gathered numerous Cabal ships have been reported to be moving from Mercury to this location almost constantly with some occasional flares of both Vex tech and Cabal tech energies being picked up. Aside from that we are flying in blind.'_**

 ** _'Well that really helps. All we know is that we are rushing into danger that may include both Vex and Cabal forces.'_** Pointed out Cal.

"True enough guys but we gotta see what the Cabal are up to and what they're doing here. So put up your cloak's and let's get moving." Finished Chase as the transmission ended and all three ship's disappeared as their cloaking tech was activated right before reaching their target destination.

 _ **'Hooooly shit!'**_ Declared Cal and his teammates couldn't blame him.

As soon as they passed the moon they saw exactly what the remaining forces of the Red Legion had been working on. It looked like a giant ring about the size of the moon they had just passed. The ring itself could be seen with mixtures of both Vex and Cabal tech as hundreds of Cabal ships of all classes flew around the ring as it looked to still be in the midst of construction. Even so the mere sight of the device made a pit form in the stomach's of the Guardian's.

"That looks sort of like a Vex time gate." Said Chase to himself as he studied the device as they slowly closed in on said construct.

 _ **'I think that's because it is.'**_ Spoke Lexi darkly.

 _ **'How do you figure? I mean it looks similar but why would the Cabal want to build a Vex time gate all the way out here? And one that large no less!'**_ Pointed out Cal. But it was Chase that answered for her.

"Maybe because what they're trying to bring isn't small enough for a usual Vex gate."

 _ **'I don't get it. What could they want to bring from the past or future that would require a gate that large?'**_ Asked Cal once more with some annoyance.

 ** _'You moron! With a gate that big they could bring back the Almighty! Or if they wanted to they could just bring back their entire fleet, including Gaul, and attack the city again! Chase we need to destroy this thing NOW!'_** Exclaimed Lexi in panic and who could blame her? They were looking at the potential revival of what was maybe their greatest foe to date along with his solar system destroying weapon. This thing needed to be destroyed before they could even attempt such a thing.

"Alright here's what's gonna happen, Lexi, find us a weak spot that we can destroy this thing with one blow and send word to the Vanguard on what we have found here. Cal, when we go in I want you to take point, your ship can take a lot more punishment than mine and Lexi's and when we rush in you can guarantee that they're gonna notice." Ordered Chase and after getting the green light the trio began to move in.

Just as they had entered the perimeter of the ships, that were apparently pulling guard on the device, Lexi sent the other two a schematic of the ring from one of her scans with which one point was highlighted in red. Giving confirmation of receiving the intel the trio flew slowly through space, avoiding Cabal ship's all the while until they were just close enough to the device.

"Alright... NOW!" Declared Chase as the trio broke their cloak's and rushed the part of the device that they had planned to attack.

Unsurprisingly, the Cabal acted almost immediately as all of their ships began to close in on the Gaurdian's. Chase's plan was working though as Cal's ship tank everything the Cabal threw at it while returning fire with his own Solar cannons. The energy round's easily cut down the Cabal ships blocking their path and allowing Chase and Lexi to rush forward with their Void and Arc missiles locked on.

As soon as they were in range they launched and watched in satisfaction as their shot's struck true and from that one area, explosions blossomed across the rest of the ring.

"Good work guys now let's- what the hell!?" Declared Chase as the ring actually started to activate!

 _ **'It looks like hitting the energy conductor for the gate accidently turned it on! This thing is still gonna blow but the pull from that gate will drag us in if we don't get out of here now!'**_ Warned Lexi, and true to her word numerous Cabal ships began to be dragged into the now activated Gate's glowing white depths.

No words needed to be spoken as the three Guardian's began to try and fly away from the device. They would have easily been out of the mess if it hadn't been for the fact that numerous Cabal ships were being dragged _towards_ the device and forcing them to avoid the incoming ships.

 _ **'Dammit we can't pull away!'**_ Shouted Cal and they all knew he was right. They could feel themselves being pulled back towards the portal and knew they were gonna be pulled in.

"Dammit all! El, send word to the Vanguard on what happened here. Hopefully where or whenever we end up they'll be able to get us back!" Chase ordered his Ghost who sent the message just before the members of fireteam Rogue were pulled through the Cabal made Vex gate.

As soon as they disappeared the gate itself erupted in a bright flash of light that turned the once large construct into nothing but floating space debris.

* * *

A few minutes had passed since fireteam Rogue had been pulled into the Vex gate and in that time the team had managed to right themselves and were now in a loose formation as the traveled through what looked like a tunnel of blue swirling light.

No one had spoken a word as no one knew exactly what to say and were just trying to contend with the fact that where or whenever they end up they will have to adapt and hope that their fellow Guardian's can hopefully find a way for them to get back. For no matter what humanity needed fireteam Rogue.

"Look alive people, I'm sensing the end of this ride." Spoke El getting everyone's attention as they were both happy and nervous at the news.

 _ **'So what's the plan Chase?'**_ Asked Cal.

"We'll figure that out once we see where we've ended up." Was the Hunter's short answer as they all prepared to exit the gateway.

About a minute later and the trio exited the tunnel of light only to be surprised as what they say, and also the lack of. They expected a ton of Cabal ships to be waiting on the other side to blast them to bits for destroying their little project but to the Guardian's growing surprise there wasn't a single sign of Cabal anywhere around them. The only thing weirder than that was the fact that they seemed to have come out of another large ring-like device about as large as the Vex gate they just traveled through.

"Chase, I'm picking up a signal from a nearby planet! It seems like something is trying to jamm it but I can just manage to pull through the message since we're close enough to the source." Spoke up El suddenly while pulling up said message.

 _"This is the Human Colony of Eden Prime! To all Alliance forces we are under attack! I repeat we are under attack!"_ Spoke the message both increasing the Guardian's confusion and worry.

 _ **'Wait did they just say that it was a human colony!? I thought we lost all of those at the end of the Golden age!'**_ Said Cal in shock.

 _ **'Hold on there Cal let's not get ahead of ourselves. I've read all of our information on the Golden Age and there was never a colony by the name of Eden Prime. Plus there has never been anything like the Alliance before.'**_ Threw in Lexi with obvious suspicion.

"That doesn't matter right now. They claim to be human and they're under attack so that's good enough for me. Plus this seems like our only chance to get some answers and where and when we are. So let's get a move on Guardians, we got a colony to save." Declared Chase as the three ships sped off into space being guided by Chase's Ghost towards their next great adventure.

* * *

 **Review and/or Pm me your thoughts!**


	2. Chapter 2

Near the human colony of Eden Prime three ships were approaching at high speeds that most ships in this universe would find impossible to do without eezo. These ships held the three members of fireteam Rogue, who were heading towards the colony in answer to the distress signal it was emitting.

"So there's the planet, Lexi, you got any readings on the place from here?" Asked Chase.

 _ **'Nothing Chase. It seems something is jamming my scanners and it would take too long for Zen to break through.'**_ Answered the Warlock with a little bit of irritation.

"Don't worry about it Lexi, I prefer seeing with my own eyes any way's. Now let's cloak up and move in." Ordered the Hunter as all three ships cloaked and began to enter the planet's atmosphere.

As soon as the Guardian's reached the planet's surface they were horrified at what they saw. What was once no doubt a peaceful farming community was now littered with destroyed crops, metal spires and bodies of obvious humans and a few robotic looking figures. The reddened sky only made the scene much more morbid.

What caught the trio's attention the most however, was the large sea creature looking ship that could be seen in the distance. The mere sight of the monstrosity was enough to send a shiver up the fireteam's spines.

 _ **'What in the name of the Traveler.'**_ Growled Cal as they surveyed the carnage.

"I don't know Cal but whatever happened here was nothing less than a slaughter, and I bet those robot looking bastards and that ship are responsible for it. They killed all those people without mercy by the looks of it, it's like during the fall of the Golden Age." Growled Chase as the controls of his ship groaned over how tight he was holding them.

Not only the carnage was getting to the Hunter but the feeling he was getting from the strange ship as well. He could feel Darkness radiating from it but it was not like the one he was familiar with. The Darkness back home was more 'hungry.' It felt as if it was trying to devour everything in its path. This Darkness however was far more...controlled. Less in wanting to consume and more of wanting to control everything like somekind of machine. Chase wasn't sure which one was worse.

 _ **'Chase! I'm picking up some signal's from what appears to be some human military forces! Not only that but my scans are also showing what appears to be a dig sight and a residential area.'**_ Reported Lexi and Chase forced himself to calm down so he could plan their next move.

Firstly the human soldiers were still probably trying to fight off those machines and could use all the help they could get by the looks of it. That dig site however could hold a lot of useful information that could benefit them in the end as they didn't yet know where or when they were. Vex gates were confusing enough as is without the Cabal throwing some things into the mix. Finally was the residential area, while they definitely needed information they were Guardian's first and foremost, the protectors of humanity. If there were survivors there then they needed to help them. With that in mind Chase came up with a plan.

"Alright, here's what we're gonna do guys. Cal, I want you to head to those soldier's and help them out however you can. Lexi, you head to that dig site and scrounge up any information you can find and send it to us so we can keep updated. I'll be heading to the residential area and help out any survivors that may still be there. Once you guys finish we'll meet up at the closest possible point, and don't use the ships, we don't know if they have any antiaircraft weapons and I would prefer to not scratch my new paint job. Let's just pray to the Traveler that there are some survivors down there.." Ordered Chase with a somber tone at the end, and after receiving confirmation both of his teammates flew off to their respective objectives as Chase flew towards his own.

* * *

 _With Cal_

After receiving his orders from his team leader, the Exo made a beeline straight to where the military forces of the planet were supposedly still fighting. Though when he arrived he could see that he was too late as a whole battalion of human soldiers were laid about the field, dead.

The sight reminded him of when he was first resurrected by his Ghost. He was found in what was once an old military instillation somewhere in Germany and it appeared he had died fighting if the numerous dead soldiers around him was any indication. Cal and his Ghost had figured he was some sort of soldier and was killed along with his comrades during the final days of the Golden Age's fall. It would certainly explain Cal's sense of duty and his inbred instinct to follow orders and Cal was more than proud of this fact.

But seeing dead soldiers always left him with a hollow feeling as seeing such brave men and women dying on the frontlines always reminded him of himself. Yet while he received a second chance they would not be so lucky.

Sighing to himself, Cal was transmatted to the ground and his ship promptly disappeared as it was stored by his Ghost. It was one of the benefit's of the Traveler's awakening, the Ghosts of the Guardian's got a great boost in their abilities which allowed them to store even the ships of their Guardian's as well as some higher processing power.

Cal appeared on the field donned in his full armor and wielding the Sweet Business auto rifle. He didn't know what he would be facing on this planet and figured he'd best be prepared to unleash hell should anything attack him.

With a quick scan of the area with his weapon, Cal walked over and kneeled next to the body of one of the human soldiers. Looking over the body of the male human Cal took notice of the armor they wore. It looked fairly thin with plastic looking plating that made Cal question its effectiveness. The weapon left the same impression as it looked quite fragile and barely looked strong enough to even take down a Hive Thrall without using a whole clip.

Just then Cal's Ghost, donned in it's Winter Lotus shell, appeared and started to scan the body as well as the weapon the human soldiers had used. It was always helpful to know what their potential allies may be outfitted with so they could better help them after all.

"So what ya got Lex? Does that armor do anything good or is it just for looks?" Asked Cal as he continued to scan their surroundings for any dangers. He learned quick to never let your guard down, especially in such an open area like this one.

"Well, while the materials for it are rather weak compared to ours they do have a type of kinetic barrier for shielding. Though from what I can gather their shields wouldn't hold out for long against our weapons, let alone the weapons of our enemies." Stated the Ghost in a younger pitched male voice as it continued to scan.

"Why is that? I mean our shields are energy based so I get why our shields would be better but why isn't their kinetic shield's that strong?" Asked Cal curiously. He could see why kinetic shielding would be inferior to their own due to the fact that their energy weapons could just simply bypass it and basically make it useless, but it should be good at holding out against their kinetic weapons shouldn't it?

"Because the weapons they are using are just not as powerful as ours. From what I can gather from the rifle this guy was using it fires a small projectile, about the size of a grain of sand, at insane speeds. This gives them nearly infinite ammunition but because our rounds have much more mass to them then theirs do we can do a lot more damage with fewer shots. Kind of a double edged sword if you asked me, considering the fact that despite the infinite ammo the weapon still seems prone to overheating over sustained fire." Explained his Ghost as Cal finally realized what was the problem.

"Yeah I see what you mean, I'd rather like to kill my target in a few shot's rather then waste my time whittling them down. Plus it seems their shield's really are subpar compared to ours. Hell, even if our shields go down we can still take a few hits thanks to how tough our armor is, especially mine." Cal said aloud.

As Lex continued to scan the armor it soon stopped on the mans left wrist as it caught something coming from the small grey band housed there. Curiously it started to scan the object and was surprised to find that it was some kind of device that connected to an immense network almost like the internet. With eagerness the Ghost dove in, bypassing any and all firewalls with ease, and began downloading and cataloguing all the info it could get and was quite surprised at what it had found.

Lex discovered how the humanity of this timeline grew, the discovery of Prothean ruins on Mars, first contact with the Turians, the Citadel and so on and so forth. He learned of all of the races and their languages as well and made sure to prioritize those. Though while he was fascinated by the knowledge he could also see just how put down humanity was by the Council. From what Lex could gather the Council had been nothing but a hindrance to Humanities growth. He also couldn't help but be a bit disappointed at humanity for the fact they would rather take the hand me down tech of an extinct race rather than take the time, and effort, to create their own as it felt kind of like cheating in a way.

Once he had downloaded everything he floated up to a now curious Titan who had been wondering why his Ghost had been silent for so long.

"So whatcha got there bud?" Asked Cal.

"How about I just download the info, cause trying to explain it through words would take way too long." Said Lex as he prepared to send the info straight to his Guardian's mind through their mental connection. Sure the process would be painful but it was necessary.

"Wait doesn't that hur- OW!" Cried Cal as he held his head in pain for a moment as the new info just put in his head settled and he could now understand why his Ghost did what it did.

"Oh shit. This is insane! Guess we can say for sure that we aren't in our universe anymore Lex, so let's send this to Lexi and Chase and move on. Who's closer to us?" Rapid fired Cal and his Ghost responded to his Guardian's request with practiced ease. His Guardian wasn't the most patient Titan there was.

"The closest to us currently would be Chase, and from what I'm picking up he seems to be moving towards, what looks to be, somekind of space port." Answered Lex.

"Well get me the sparrow and let's get a move on. We're gonna have a LOT to talk about when we all meet up." Stated Cal as his Ghost materialized his Impact Velocity Sparrow and the two were off to rendezvous with the Hunter.

* * *

 _with Lexi, same time_

Around that same time as Cal had reached the soldiers Lexi had reached the dig site and was surprised to find it pretty empty save for the site where something must have been dug up and the two spires that looked to have two human bodies pierced on them. A morbid sight for sure but one she chose to ignore for the moment.

Looking around the dig sight and at all of the scientific equipment Lexi felt herself having a brief moment of nostalgia from her first resurrection as a Warlock. Zen had found her body under the rubble of what was once some type of college in what was once Sweden and it was speculated that she was either a student there or maybe even a teacher. It could explain her fascination and drive for knowledge but, like most Guardians, she didn't want to speculate on her personal past before becoming a Guardian and focused more on the future and discovering what they had lost during the Golden Age before seeing if they can bring it back to the present.

Materializing in the middle of the site near the dig Lexi had her full armor on and the Huckleberry smg in hand. Cautiously she stepped up to the site as her Ghost, donned in its Cosmos shell, appeared and began to scan the crater.

"You got anything Zen?" She asked her Ghost while it responded in a deep male voice.

"Just that there was somekind of pillar shaped object was here a little while ago but now it's gone. By those track's it seems to have been dragged off to the spaceport nearby, but that's only a guess at this point."

"Well then let's-" began Lexi just before they heard a groaning sound and turned to look at the two spires as they descended to the ground and leaving the two bodies that were once atop it on the ground.

Before Lexi could question such an action she was surprised to see the two bodies rise up! They reminded the Warlock of a Hive Thrall with their movements, but Lexi could still see the human aspect that these things still retained despite the fact it now possessed grey skin, was infused with blue tubes and those soulless glowing eyes.

With a cry the two 'Husk's', she figured the name was appropriate, charged the Warlock and she didn't hesitate to bring her weapon to bear on the charging enemy. Squeezing the trigger, the Hucklberry let loose its own cry as it mowed down the two foes in a concentrated burst of fire. With no protection or shielding the two Husks were dead before they had even reached halfway towards their target.

Now that the enemy had been taken care of Lexi moved forward to better examine the two creatures that tried to attack her. When she stood in front of them her Ghost moved and began to scan them for a moment before suddenly backing away in shock and surprising his Guardian.

"Zen, what's wrong?"

"These Husk's... they were once humans. But from what I scanned those... _spires_ somehow turned them into these things. Not only that but... I sensed _Darkness._ Not the one we are used to but a Darkness all the same. And it seems similar to the Darkness we felt from that strange ship was saw when we first arrived here." Spoke the Ghost hollowly which made Lexi tense up at the mention of their longtime enemy.

Now that her Ghost mentioned it she could definitely feel the lack of Darkness that constantly surrounded them back home when they had been in space. However, when they had entered the planet's atmosphere it wasn't hard to feel the longtime enemy of the Light that radiated from that vessel. But the mere fact that there was a Darkness here at all was still disconcerting. It was then that her Ghost received the intel from Cal and she was quickly subjected to the same experience as her teammate as Zen beamed the info directly into her brain. Only her treatment was more painful and longer lasting due to her being organic and Cal being synthetic.

After a few moment's of groaning at the migraine from the action she suddenly tensed as the info was processed and she reached the same conclusion Cal had beforehand. She would have pondered more on this but now was not the time, she needed to regroup with her teammates pronto.

"Zen, give me the sparrow, we need to reach the others and like Chase said, summoning the ship at the moment is too risky." She ordered and her Ghost promptly complied as her Hastilude sparrow materialized and she was off at top speed towards the residential area where she would meet up with Chase and hopefully Cal as well. She just prayed that the two of them hadn't gotten into too much trouble while she had been away.

* * *

As the Guardian's rushed to try and save whatever they could of Eden Prime none were aware of the arrival of another vessel. This vessel was similar in design to a type of predatory bird and colored black and white with the name _Normandy_ displayed proudly across its hull.

On this ship was soon to be the most influential being in the Milky Way Galaxy and maybe even the future savior of it as well.

 **Review and/or PM me!**


	3. Chapter 3

_With Chase_

Across the burned landscape that was at one time a farming field, the leader of fireteam Rogue sped by on his Eon Drive sparrow. The ancient piece of Golden Age tech barreled through the destroyed area with more speed than most other sparrow's could muster. The destination, the burning shambles of what at a glance seemed a small town or village for the planet's farmers and civilian workers.

The Hunter decided to travel along the land rather than just to land inside the area itself so as to not draw attention. If there were enemies still present in the town he preferred to have them caught unawares.

It wasn't long after that Chase had reached the town and had dismounted. As he crept through the remains of what had once been a civilian home with his chosen weapon, the Vigilance Wing, held firmly in his hand he caught the sound of someone crying. Instantly his rifle was raised towards a small closet.

Approaching with caution he slowly reached out and grasped the handle of the door. Taking a moment to steady his breathing he suddenly ripped the door open while at the same time bringing his Pulse Rifle to bear, only to freeze as he saw what was inside.

Hiding behind a small crate of knickknack's, an expression of sorrow and fear plastered on their face, was a little girl no more than nine years old. Her dark brown hair was done in a small ponytail and her pale skinned face was streaked with tears from her deeply reddened brown eyes. She wore a grey jumpsuit that Chase figured was the typical fashion of this place. Clutched tight in her hands was a small stuffed rabbit.

Chase quickly dismissed his weapon and focused on trying to assure the child he meant no harm. The Hunter always had a soft spot for children and when not on patrol or assignment from the Vanguard he was usually found in the City visiting the children's parks. Seeing the children, the next generation of humanity, was always heartwarming and just another reminder to Chase of why he continued to fight the minions of the Darkness. Yet to see one so scared of him was heartbreaking.

"Hey now it's okay, I'm not here to hurt you I'm here to help." He soothed as he crouched down to her eye level slowly. Any sudden moves may scare the girl even more.

Her response was to scoot further back into the corner she found herself in while clutching her toy even tighter. She began to shake and her eyes darted about, looking ready to run at any moment.

Thinking quickly Chase dispersed his helm to show his face and that seemed to ease the girl somewhat as her eyes widened in shock and awe at the small lightshow from when his helm disappeared. This brought some small measure of happiness to the Hunter as her childlike curiosity temporarily erased her fears.

"My name is Chase, now what's your name child?" He asked with a smile. The girl seemed to think on it for a moment before she managed to croak out an answer.

"M-Megan. M-Megan Yurn."

"Well hello Megan. Can you tell me what your doing in this closet and where your parents are?"

As soon as he asked the question he immediately regretted it as the little girl started to spill fresh tears as the memory she had been trying to suppress began to resurface.

"T-they took them. The robot's. T-t-they started hurting people and m-m-mommy told me to hide in the c-closet. I heard her screaming. E-everyone w-was screaming so loud! Make it stop!" Megan screamed as she started to sob uncontrollably.

Chase quickly pulled the little girl into a tight hug that she quickly returned. Her small arms clawed at his cloak as her tears dripped down his armor. He whispered soothing words to the child as her sobs and cries began to slowly ebb away until she finally became silent.

Pulling away he saw that she had cried herself to sleep. Chase gazed sadly down at her, feeling only sympathy and pity for what had happened to her. Even with all the horrors that waited outside the walls of the Last City it was universally agreed that the children were to be protected from such horrors and sorrows such as losing their parents.

Quickly though, his sorrow was replaced by overwhelming rage. It got tot he point Chase had to use a considerable amount of willpower in order to stop Sol energy from erupting from him and potentially harming the child in his arms.

Rising to his feet, Chase scooped the child into his arms and summoned his helm once more. Walking outside what was once the girls home Chase called out his Ghost.

"El, summon the ship and keep Megan in there with the cloak up until we're through here." He ordered and she promptly complied.

His ship was materialized and Megan's body was soon transported inside with a flash of light. When she vanished so did the ship before El directed it to fly in low orbit so as to be harder to be detected since they didn't know what kind of tech the had in this world and didn't want to run the risk of them being able to get past his ships cloaking tech.

Reequipping his Vigilance Wing the Guardian once more began his trek through the area without anymore encounters. It was sort of unnerving but sadly familiar to the Hunter. Traversing through the desecrated buildings of a once thriving community with its inhabitants nowhere insight. It almost felt like being back at the Cosmodrome when he was first resurrected underneath that decrepit automobile.

Hearing the shifting of some rubble, Chase quickly hid behind a wall and peaked out to see some type of alien in armor and carrying some type of rifle run by. The alien had an exoskeleton and mandibles but almost appeared avian in a way. Lifting his weapon slowly Chase planned to injure the alien and hopefully get some answers on why an armed alien was running around on a clearly under attack _human_ colony.

Before he could take aim however his mind was assaulted by the info dump courtesy of his Ghost. He waited for his mind to settle before finally regaining his composure. By that time the alien had already departed and that irritated Chase a bit until his newly acquired intel kicked in.

"So that's a Turian huh? And that armor he was wearing was SPECTR issue. What is a Council hitman doing here now of all times?" Asked Chase to himself as he wracked his mind with both the information on this new Galaxy and his theories on what is going on with this planet.

"Why don't you just follow him instead of sitting around?" Suggested El, making her Guardian roll his eyes but comply nonetheless as he set off in the direction he last saw the alien heading.

An hour or so later and the Hunter now found himself on a small outcropping overlooking the spaceport that the alien had entered. He dare not trek across the open area between him and the port for risk of being spotted. Sure he could use his cloak ability but he'd rather observe from a distance if at all possible.

"El, get me the D.A.R.C.I." He requested and a moment later his Vigilance Wing was replaced by the highly advanced sniper rifle.

This particular weapon had been a joint project between himself and Banshee-44 at the Tower when they had reclaimed the City. Banshee had been the one to design the highly advanced, one of a kind scope, while he himself had been the one to design the rifle itself. It had taken over a month of straight work before it was developed and after its initial test run went perfectly it had become one of Chase's all time favorite weapons.

Looking through the scope he quickly spotted his target, however he seemed to be talking with another Turian, only this one had a pale complexion and looked far to at ease for being in the middle of a potential invasion. Looking through his mind he realized who this new Turian was. He was only confirmed by his Ghost speaking what was on his mind.

"Saren Arterius. Another Council SPECTR wit a nasty rep and longtime history of hating humanity. Makes one wonder what he's doing at a human colony if he hates us so much. I'd bet my Light that he has something to do with this invasion." El said with clear disdain in her tone.

"That's a fools bet. What you can do is tap into those Omni-tools of theirs and see if we can hear what they're talking about." Retorted the Hunter as he kept his eyes on the duo.

Before his Ghost could act on his request he saw the other Turian turn his back to Saren who calmly raised a pistol to the back of his fellow SPECTR's head. It was here that Chase had to make a choice, he could either save the alien about to obviously be murdered, or just wait for Saren to kill him and then kill Saren.

Truthfully he was leaning more to the second option as he wasn't really fond of aliens, no Guardian was truthfully. After centuries of fighting against every alien species they came into contact with it left quite an impression on humanity as a whole. The only exception was the few Fallen in the Reef that had served the Queen when she was still around, yet even now they worked alongside the Awoken that lived there.

What made up his mind however was the fact that this was a new universe where humanity was apart of a galactic community that was made up of numerous alien species so his way of thinking and acting wouldn't exactly fly here. He knew that no matter how strong he and his team were they couldn't take on a whole Galaxy alone. If they were to survive and, hopefully, find a way home they would need to make friends with a few aliens. If they were lucky they may even be able to get aid from them that could really help the Last City.

So with his mind made up, Chase aimed down the scope of his rifle and took aim, then without a hint of hesitation, he fired. The sound of the Arc energy round screamed through the air as it traveled across the landscape. The shot struck its target true as the talon equipped appendage holding the pistol of Saren exploded in a shower of blue blood and bone while the remnants of his weapon clattered to the ground.

With a scream of agony, the wounded Turian grasped the stump as the other Turian whipped around to see what had happened. It took a second for him to piece together what happened, but seeing the pistol that he knew wasn't drawn before and the fact Saren was missing a limb while said pistol was on the ground confirmed only one thing. Saren had just tried to kill him and someone had saved his ass.

Before he could act however, Saren had charged his biotics and with a thrust of his remaining appendage had blasted him across the platform and into a large pile of crates. After doing so he heard the roar of engines and turned to see a cloaked and armored figure riding a hovering vehicle towards him at high speeds. He knew this had to be his attacker.

"Kill them, I need to reach the Beacon!" Commanded Saren as three Geth troopers appeared and moved to follow his orders as they started to fire upon the approaching individual while Saren made his escape.

Chase meanwhile avoided the incoming shots right up until he reached the platform where he then leaped from his sparrow with the Vigilance Wing already in hand. Letting loose a burst he cut down the first mechanical being easily as the first three shot's tore down its shield while the last two tore through its chest plate.

Landing with a role the Hunter found himself behind a couple of crates taking cover from the Geth's return fire. Before he could come up with some type of plan of attack he heard the distinct roars of two other sparrows as Cal and Lexi could be seen making their way towards him.

He wasn't the only one to notice though as the remaining two Geth saw them and turned to fire upon the new arrivals.

Cal was the first to arrive and like Chase he leaped from his seat on his ride, but rather than draw a weapon he just shoulder tackled the nearest Geth. The force of a tackle from a Titan could even knock a fully grown Kell on his ass so doing it to a human sized machine was bound to end in one way, with said machine being crushed like a soda can into the ground.

The remaining Geth turned towards the slayer of his comrade and was prepared to fire, until an orb of Void energy struck the machine from the side and turned it into nothing without leaving a trace of it even being there. Said orb came from none other than Lexi, who had just drove up and stopped before hopping off of her own Sparrow.

"Glad to see your knack for finding trouble hasn't dulled in this universe Chase." Dryly commented Lexi as she walked up to her fellow Guardians.

"I can't say I'm disappointed. It's nice to finally put the hurt on these bastards for what they've done to this colony." Grunted out Cal in response.

"Alright you two play nice. Lexi I want you to check that guy and see if he's alright." Said Chase as he gestured towards the crumpled form of the Turian he had saved.

"I'm many things Chase but an alien doctor isn't one of them. I'll give him a look over but that's all I can do." Replied the Warlock as she kneeled down next to the Turian and had her Ghost scan him. It took a minute but soon enough she had her result's.

"His name is Nihlus and he's a Council SPECTR. Looks like he was hit by a powerful biotic blast. He'll live from what I can see but he won't be waking up anytime soon and even with medigel he won't be moving around for a good couple of weeks." Stated Zen.

Chase nodded in acknowledgment of this as he then prepared to give his orders for his team to go after Saren but was stopped as Cal's Ghost suddenly appeared and was facing the way they had just come from. It looked to be scanning for something and this drew the attention of the other's.

"What's up Lex?" Cal asked his Ghost.

"I'm picking up three signals heading our way...human if I'm reading them right and they seem to be military aligned." Explained Lex as he continued to scan for more information but he was being cautious in breaching the firewalls of their Omni-tools.

This made the three Guardian's share look's as they knew they would be having company soon and were wondering if they really should meet with this new universe's humanity. In the end it was decided by Chase that they would have to do so sooner or later and he preferred sooner.

"Well guys, let's make history once more." Announced Chase as he and his team waited to greet the humans of another universe.

* * *

Not far from the spaceport, Commander Jane Shepard alongside Lieutenant Kaiden Alenko and Gunnery Sargent Ashley Williams quickly yet cautiously made their way to the spaceport where they supposed the Beacon had been taken. Yet thoughts swirled through the Commander's mind on what they had been told by the scientist they found at the dig site.

Apparently a being in white robes had come down from a ship that had up and vanished before checking the dig site with a floating object that while at first they figured was a drone, but was unlike any drone they had ever heard of. That and the fact that the person in question had killed two Husk's with no hesitation with an unfamiliar type of weapon.

Afterwards the figure had suddenly materialized what looked like a hover bike of all things and rode off in the very same direction they were now going.

The origins of this being concerned the commander greatly as they were an unknown factor. They were already going in blind and had a lot of question with the fact that the Geth of all beings were attacking the planet. A synthetic race created by the Quarians and not seen outside the Perseus Veil for over three centuries suddenly up and attacking a human colony was weird enough as is but this new player was a total mystery.

Shepard figured that if and when the time came she would get her answer's from said individual, even if she had to get violent to do so.

 **Review and/or Pm me guys and gals!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys sorry for the late update on this but life has been kicking my ass and I have gotten pretty hooked on Destiny once more with the new Forsaken. However, with the new weapons and Super abilities I had to review on whether I could input them into this story or not. Needless to say I have decided to add them in solely due to the fact that despite the new abilities and weapons only being added after the timeline(i.e. before Cayde's death and Uldren's escape) in which I set the Guardians, Lore wise the abilities and weapons were always there just never introduced until now.**

 **With that out-of-the-way let's get on with the story!**

* * *

 _'So this is the Lioness of Elysium... gotta say she certainly looks the part with that look she's giving us.'_ thought Chase as he, Cal and Lexi watched the trio of Alliance soldier's approach them.

Shepard for her part slowed her team down as they cautiously approached the fireteam. She kept her weapon in the low ready but didn't want to immediately appear hostile. One of the figures fit the description given to her by the scientist, but the other two were completely new to her and that just raised her suspicions about their intentions.

The largest figure was very intimidating as he, she assumed it was a he at least by the build, stood just as tall if not taller than a Krogan and the weapon in his hand looked like a something a Krogan would drool over.

The figure in the middle, who appeared to be the leader, wore a weird cloak and his helmet was just entrancing to her with its ever swirling mass of color that showed no facial features whatsoever, and therefore no real way to get a read on him.

Looking at the three made her very weary as their armor and weapons were completely alien to her and their mere presence on Eden Prime now of all times was just suspicious. Still, it would be wise of her to try some diplomacy before trying to force some answers out of the newcomers. Before she could begin questioning them however, the figure in the cloak stepped forward and began the conversation.

"Commander Shepard, the Lioness of Elysium and the Butcher of Torfan. You've got a reputation on you, mind telling me what you're doing here now of all times Commander?" asked Chase casually even as the Commander and her two subordinates tensed up at the fact this apparently random person knew exactly who he was talking to already.

The surprise quickly wore off though as Shepard responded a little more harshly and holding her weapon just a bit tighter in case these guys turned out to be hostile. She just figured he knew her from the extranet as she was basically humanities' 'golden child' at this point due to her actions in her career as an Alliance soldier. The many fanboys she had could attest to that.

"I should be the one asking you that, not only do you three show up in the middle of a Geth invasion, but you're also equipped with armor and weapons I have never seen before. I've already gotten an eye-witness statement of what your friend did at the dig site so I think it's in your best interest to tell me who the hell you are and why your here on Eden Prime." demanded Shepard as she glared into where she thought Chase's eyes were on his helmet.

For a few moments the atmosphere grew really tense, but it was quickly broken as Chase and Cal started to chuckle a bit while Lexi nodded her head in approval.

"Glad to see your reputation on your 'take no shit' attitude wasn't exaggerated Commander. I'm Chase, the leader of fireteam Rogue. These two behind me are Cal and Lexi," he said while gesturing at the two with a friendly tone to his voice, that quickly changed with his next set of words however, "we came here because we caught the planet's distress signal while passing by right before the Geth jammed it. We came in blind and split up to try to help wherever we could. Lexi was probably the one you heard about at the dig site. I went to the residential area to check for survivor's, and Cal made his way towards where the military forces on this planet were apparently fighting." explained Chase trying to give away as little information as possible about his teams true origin's. He still wasn't a hundred percent sure if doing so was a good idea, humanity or no.

Surprisingly enough, it was Ashley who stepped forward with a hard look on her face as she stood before Cal. The two stood there for a moment making the others wonder what they were thinking about.

"...so you saw my unit." stated Ashley as Cal looked down at her.

"...yes, or I at least saw where they made their last stand. I just wish I could have gotten their sooner to help." replied Cal with a shameful tone at the end at his inability to aid the soldiers when they needed him most. An immortal defender he may be, but even he knew that not everyone could be saved, no matter how badly he wished otherwise.

Ashley stared at him for a few moments contemplating his words and the tone he spoke them in. She figured he had similar experiences beforehand and seeing them again really hit the big guy hard. So to everyone's surprise she reached up and laid a hand on his armored shoulder in a comforting manner.

"It's alright big guy, you and I both know there was nothing we could have done. The Geth hit us out of nowhere and we just didn't have the right gear to fight them off. It's no ones fault but theirs." she said kindly and it did ease Cal's guilt quite a bit.

"Actually that's not entirely true, the real sonofabitch behind this attack is a Turian Spectre called Saren Arterius. I had just stopped him from killing the other Turian I assume is with you but he pussied out and ran, probably towards the Prothean Beacon if I had to guess." threw in Chase and it quickly caught the attention of the Alliance soldiers as they just now noticed a prone Nihlus laying nearby.

In an instant the trio rushed to the downed Turian with Kaiden calling for a medivac, all the while the Guardian's just looked on not able to do much more than they already had.

"At least he's alive, thanks for saving him but how did you do it?" asked Shepard.

"Blew the fucker's hand off when he put his pistol to the guys head from over a hundred yards over there." said Chase casually as he gestured to the outcropping he had been on beforehand.

Shepard looked to where he had pointed and was impressed, the marksmanship needed for a shot like that was remarkable and she didn't know anyone else capable of pulling it off to her memory. That just added to the list of question's about these new acquaintances, not only were they wearing and using unfamiliar gear but if Chase was anything to go by they were fairly skilled as well.

"Gotta say that was a heck of a shot, you must be a hell of a sniper. Still, if you made the shot then how did Nihlus end up like that?"

"Saren hit him with a Biotic wave, big bird is lucky he survived. Right now though we have to get moving before-" started Chase before a small sound of movement drew the collected group's attention as everyone's weapons were now trained on a single point.

"Wait, don't shoot, don't shoot!" yelled a man as he jumped up from behind the crates and making everyone let out an aggravated breath.

"We nearly shot you! What were you doing back there for anyway?" asked/demanded Shepard as her and her posse moved to question the man while Chase, Cal and Lexi moved a bit away to have their own discussion.

"So mind explaining why you didn't just out and tell them what we are?" asked Cal to Chase, but it was Lexi who answered the Titan's question.

"It's because this isn't _our_ humanity Cal. Back home humanity is on the brink of extinction with nearly every xeno race out for our blood and Guardian's like us are the only thing's making sure we survive as well as us being guided by the Traveler. In this universe however, humanity only reached this point by using the tech of a long dead civilization and has joined a galactic community ran by a bunch of aliens that use the same tech. If we told them what we were and what we were capable of then they would be forced to tell the rest of those aliens and how much you wanna bet that before long we end up either on a dissection table or our tech falls into their hands?" explained Lexi and that was all the answer they needed.

What Lexi had just said was a hundred percent true in the most brutal way. How they saw it, this Universe's humanity lost their first contact war not in the short conflict with the Turians, but rather through the Council's politics. They had willingly subjected themselves to the laws and leadership of a foreign power all under the pretenses of 'peace' and 'prosperity'. In the end, the Turians got what they wanted and humanity was under the thumb of an elitist Council.

"...yes that is all true Lexi, but that doesn't change our overall mission. This humanity can still be helped if we play our cards right. Right now they are under the thumb of the Council but with our help we can give them something we never had back home." state Chase.

"And what would that be exactly oh _wise_ leader." asked Lexi skeptically.

"Allies." answered Chase with a devious edge to his voice.

It was then that Cal and Lexi understood Chase's train of thought. Back home every xeno species they knew was an enemy, but here that wasn't the case, and humanity could find help in others that the Council has screwed over the, Krogan's and the Quarian's being prime examples. With the medical tech they had, that somehow survived the collapse, they could easily cure the Genophage plaguing the Krogan and gain some impressive military might. For the Quarian's they could give them a planet to settle on and with them and their impressive engineering skill's they could help humanity advance immensely. And they weren't even counting the outcasts that came from the other races that would flock to humanities fold at the promise of a better life.

"You know you've had crazy idea's before Chase, but that has gotta be the craziest one ever... I love it." laughed Cal at the end.

"When the big guy is right he's right. Now we just need to make it happen. It sounds simple on paper but we have to get humanity on board with us before anything else." replied Lexi.

They would have talked more but by that time Shepard had finished with the dock worker and were now approaching the trio with angry expressions but Ashley's looked on the verge of absolute fury.

"I take it the guy pissed you all off?" queried Chase.

"Guy was an eye-witness to Saren's attempt to murder Nihlus and your intervention, but he was also a smuggling thief and had hoarded a few grenades meant for Ashley's unit that he gave us." answered Shepard irately.

"Wow, what a dickhead, still there ain't time to mope cause we got a Turian to catch and then kill." interjected Cal and everyone got serious.

"Right let's get a move on, and you three are coming with us since I still got a few questions about you and your team that are gonna be answered after this mission." Shepard declared sternly, only to be shrugged off both figuratively and literally by the Guardian's as the three were already making their way to the tram to take them to where they figured Saren had gone to.

* * *

The trip wasn't long but it was tense as everyone knew there would be an ambush waiting for them at the end. For Shepard and her group it was their instincts telling them, but for the Guardians? They had done shit like this so often that they pretty much expected the worst case scenario at this point.

When the tram finally stopped and rounds didn't immediately start flying at them it was a surprise to the group. But that surprise was quickly forgotten when Kaiden spotted something that just upped the danger of the mission.

"Bomb!" the Biotic soldier cried only to receive a slap to the back of the head from the irate Titan.

"Thanks for giving away our position moron, as if we didn't have enough problems already." chastised the Exo as Kaiden looked down in embarrassment.

As that happened Chase, Lexi and Shepard rushed to the device. It took only a few short moments for Chase to disarm the device as tech was his specialty.

It was a well-known fact that among the three of them Chase was the tech wiz whether it was with gun's or vehicles and even alien tech, he was the guy to go to. Lexi was a scientist without equal but her real passion lied in physic's and it showed in her amazing understanding with physic's and her raw power with the three energies. Cal... well he really didn't do much except train, but he was also a huge history nut and knew nearly every military strategy ever developed with scary efficiency. Give the guy an army and he could lead them without a doubt. The only reason Chase was the leader was because he could look at a situation and know exactly what he and his team needed to do to get the job done and was the most experienced of the trio when it came to survival.

It was a good thing Chase had the skill set he did since using El would bring up too many questions to answer at the moment. Plus there was no guarantee Shepard or her posse wouldn't shoot her as soon as she popped up and he wasn't willing to take that risk.

"Well that's one down but my gut says there's bound to be more of them. Saren no doubt wants to erase the colony to cover his tracks like the slippery bastard he is." growled Chase as Shepard took charge.

"Then we need to disarm those bomb's pronto, you and I will disable them while the others provide cover from any Geth we may encounter." said Shepard as Chase nodded in agreement to the plan.

"Sound's good, you heard the woman guy's! Keep those tin can's off our backs while we deal with the bomb's." declared the Hunter as the other four of the group nodded and moved forward with weapons raised.

It was not even twenty seconds later that they were taking fire from Geth troopers with the team immediately taking cover and returning fire. Cal's was shredding Geth with his Sweet Business their shields no much for the overwhelming firepower and fire rate of the auto rifle. Lexi had swapped out her Huckleberry smg for her Hardlight auto rifle and began mowing down Geth with arc rounds proving that their energy round's completely bypassed the kinetic barrier's the machines possessed.

Ashley and Kaiden were using their Avenger rifles to take down Geth in concentrated bursts of fire with Ashley using her grenades to blow up a few and Kaiden with his Biotic's to pull them out of cover and make them easy targets. As this was all happening, Chase and Shepard were quickly moving between cover and disabling the bombs with great efficiency as if they had worked together for years. Though Chase's blink and cloak abilities kind of gave him an edge in that regard.

"Man these guys are pathetic!" yelled Cal as he mowed down another Geth trooper with Lexi doing the same right next to her.

"I have to agree! The Vex are way more dangerous than these guys, with them you blow off their head and they just keep coming, but with these guys they can barely hold on after a round to the chest!" replied Lexi as a trooper was blown apart due to an overload of arc energy from her rifle.

"Prime incoming!" yelled Ashley as a larger Geth rushed them with a shotgun firing and unlike its fellow Geth this one was a dark red instead of grey and looked to have heavier armor.

Seeing the challenge Cal charged forward to meet the Geth halfway with dismissing his weapon, which Kaiden and Ashley gawked at before continuing to fire upon the remaining enemy forces.

The Prime fired off three shots from its shotgun in close range of Cal but his shields powered through and the two powerhouses met in the middle. The Exo's and Geth's hands grappled with each-other while Cal's remaining hand lashed out and grasped the shotgun that the Geth had and crushed the weapon with his Titan strength.

Seeing it's now useless weapon the Geth released it and tried to throw a punch with its now free hand only for that hand to be grabbed by Cal as well. It then became a contest of strength that seemed pretty even at first, but then the Titan Guardian decided to stop playing around.

Within a second Cal had crushed both of the Prime's hands with his own, and with no way to defend itself Cal had grabbed the artificial being at the back of the neck and lower back and using this hold lifted the metallic being over his head with ease. With a final war cry Cal then ripped the Prime in half and then quickly tossed both halfs at the remaining two Geth which were crushed under the force and weight of their comrade.

Now that the last of the Geth had been dealt with and the bomb's disarmed everything was silent. Until Kaiden decided to break the silence with some words of wisdom.

"Remind me not to piss that guy off."

"That's what happens when someone wants to go close quarters against a Titan, they end up dead, broken or both." stated Lexi, while unintentionally giving Shepard more questions about what a 'Titan' was but she would ask later as right now the Beacon and Saren were more important.

After making sure the port was officially clear of Geth the group made their way to the Beacon but found no sign of the Turian they had come for. It appeared he had managed to escape while they had fought the Geth.

"Bastard gave us the slip! I swear when I get my hands on that son of a-" began Chase only to get a slap to the back of the head from Lexi.

"Oh stow it Chase we got other things to worry about at the moment. We'll hunt the bird down later." chastised the Warlock.

"So this is a Prothean Beacon huh? Didn't get a good look at it when they dug it up before." commented Ashley as she approached said Beacon which began to glow the closer she got.

 _'Uh not to interrupt but I'm detecting a rise in the Beacon's energy reading's!'_ said El through the mental link.

'Well you've been pretty quiet for a while. Whatcha been up to partner?' asked Chase.

 _'I've been on a binge run with extranet and trying to keep that girl Megan entertained and happy now get that girl away from the Darkness damned Beacon!'_

At his Ghost's yell Chase turned towards the Gunnery Chief only to see her now floating in front of a pulsing Beacon. Before he could act to pull her away he was beaten to the punch by Shepard who had rushed in and yanked Ashley from the Beacon's hold only to be lifted herself and now trapped in its clutches.

Before anyone could make a move to save the Commander whatever the Beacon had attempted to do was done and Shepard was tossed away right before the Beacon exploded sending its remains all over the platform.

Everyone quickly rushed to the Commander's aid only to find her out cold. After a check from Lexi she determined she was physically fine but without any equipment she couldn't determine anything else and would have to wait until they were aboard the Normandy which was in route thanks to Kaiden, now they just had to wait.

* * *

As they awaited the arrival of the vessel Chase had managed to transmat the little girl he had found in the remains of her home back to the ground without the other's noticing. He had managed to introduce her to Cal and Lexi but she stayed as close to him as possible and refused to leave his side.

It was a few minutes later until the Normandy arrived and when it did the fireteam couldn't help but be impressed. They may have superior tech but these guys could build some pretty sweet looking warships.

Anderson, after hearing from Kaiden and Ashley, opted to bring the fireteam on board as witnesses to the Citadel and because he had some questions for them as well. The problem was trying to get Megan to stay behind which she refused to do under any circumstances, so they ended up having to bring her along.

Fireteam Rogue now found themselves in Anderson's office while checked on Shepard and Nihlus condition. The three, plus Megan, now stood across from Anderson as the veteran observed the three unknowns.

The man could tell at a glance that these three were no stranger's to combat just by the way they held themselves. So were they former soldier's? Mercenaries perhaps? And what of their weaponry and armor, who could have possibly made them and where did they get it? So many questions and he needed answers.

"...according to Sergeant Williams and Lieutenant Alenko you three were quite the help on Eden Prime, Especially you son with saving Nihlus. Now while I do thank you on behalf of the Alliance I think we both know I need some answer's about who you are and why you were on the planet when it was attacked." asked Anderson.

The three Guardian's gave each-other a look and came to a silent agreement. They would tell this man the truth, but only because they needed someone high in the ranks to help them out with what they had planned. If they were to survive in this new universe they would need help and he was their best chance at the moment.

"That sir... is gonna be quite a story. But for now let's start with telling you _what_ we are exactly." said Chase as he Cal and Lexi dismissed their helms and showed their faces.

Anderson took in Chase's appearance with ease as he was still human and therefore relatable and an common sight. Lexi was different as while her skin tone was like an Asari's she looked far more human with her white hair and her bright silver eyes shined with power. When he saw the Exo of their team however he leaped to his feet at the sight of him and was reaching for a weapon that he didn't currently have.

"Just what the hell are you doing with a Geth!?" he demanded and he wasn't the only one as Megan had practically become a part of the Hunter's leg with how tight she was hugging it at the sight of the robotic being that reminded her of the ones that attacked her home.

"Calm down sir it isn't what you think. Cal here is an Exo, a human conscience placed inside an artificial body." explained Chase and that seemed to ease Anderson while confusing Megan, but she calmed down as well after seeing how calm Chase was.

"I never heard anything about a project like that. Are you part of Cerberus?" asked Anderson with an edge to his tone at the mention of the rogue human supremacist group.

"We are not apart of Cerberus, and the reason you've never heard of Exo's is because they weren't made by your universes humanity." said Lexi.

"...I feel like I'll need a drink by the time this is all over but we've got time so please start from the beginning." asked Anderson and Cal stepped forward to tell their story since he was the major history nut of the group.

It took a few hours for Cal to explain everything from the discovery of the Traveler on Mars, to humanities rise and fall and all the way up until their arrival in this new universe. Of course Chase and Lexi threw in their own words when Cal talked about one of their missions together. They managed to curb Anderson's skepticism by revealing their Ghost's, who even provided visual aid for their stories which Megan greatly enjoyed until she fell asleep halfway through the story and Chase had begun to hold her as she slept.

By the time they were finished Anderson's coffee had gone cold as he was so enraptured by their tale he couldn't bring himself to even take a sip. For a few minutes he simply stared at the trio with a contemplative look on his face as the new info just sunk in. While the story sounded like something out of fantasy he couldn't forgo the proof before him.

"...this is gonna be a lot to explain to the brass. Not sure they would even believe me." sighed Anderson as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Yeeeah about that... we don't want you to tell anyone about this. At least not yet." said Chase seriously and Anderson now gave him a stern look.

"And why wouldn't I tell them?"

"Because it wouldn't do well for how we plan to help humanity. This may not even be our universe but we are still protector's of humanity and what we see is a humanity in serious need of help." explained Lexi which earned a raised brow from Anderson.

"Oh? And how do we need help may I ask?" queried the captain.

"Because as you are now you will never reach your full potential as a species. The regulations placed upon you by the Council makes sure that you will never be able to rise above them and if you somehow managed to best them in a specific area they would claim it as their own. Our humanity may have been aided by the Traveler but the advancements we made as a species were all us. While we broke restraints and pushed farther you settled for subservience under a foreign power." stated Cal.

"We are _not_ subservient to the Council." declared Anderson hotly.

"Are you? Are you really? Cause as far as I see it if the Council told you to jump you would have to do so or get a quick trip to an airlock. Face it Anderson, the Council races look out only for themselves and wouldn't bat an eye if humanity just spontaneously disappeared. The Asari use diplomacy as a way to trick species into following them under false promises of higher standings in the future. The Turian's use brute force to do the same and the Salarian's use spies and sabotage to advance themselves and keep other races behind. They are all arrogant, power-hungry bastards and care nothing for humanity or any race they see below themselves." replied Chase with such intensity that it made Anderson flinch but still hold the Hunter's gaze.

After a few moment's of looking each-other dead in the eyes the captain finally relented and fell back in his chair with a defeated sigh. He couldn't deny the word's of the Guardian's as they had only spoken the truth. He had seen the corruption of the Council first hand when they sided with Saren despite the blatant proof of the Turian's guilt when he had been nominated for being a Spectre.

With humanity giving the Turian's a bloody nose during the First Contact war and effectively bruising their pride it made things extremely difficult for them. Humans as a whole were alway's ones to push boundaries and evolve with the times, but with the regulations placed upon them by the Council they could never push as far or as hard as they wanted to and it was one of humanities biggest problems with the Council.

"I can't argue with that, but you can't expect Humanity to survive on its own as we are now. If we were to break away there is no telling how the Council would react." explained Anderson.

"And that's where we come in captain, and who said you'd be doing this alone? I can think of two races that would be more than happy to side with humanity if you gave them a hand. Just give the Quarian's one of your garden worlds to settle on and we can help you with the Krogan by making sure the Genophage is cured. We won't make so they become breeding machines again but we can make it so there are no more still births. Plus with some of our tech you would leave those Council clowns in the dust. All we ask is that you keep this quiet for now until we can set things up to make it happen, but if you can help us in convincing your government then it would certainly help." said Lexi.

Anderson tried to find a way to dispute the logic the Warlock had thrown at him but couldn't for the life of him find a flaw in her reasoning. Plus he knew a few people who would be well on board with this idea but it would take some convincing on his part he knew. Still, for the sake of the human race he couldn't afford to let such an opportunity just slip by, not when the rewards greatly outweighed the risks.

"Okay I'll help you, but Cal, you and Lexi will need to keep your identities a strict secret until further notice. Especially you Cal, after the Geth attack on Eden Prime artificial beings like yourself aren't gonna be looked on too friendly and that's if they don't just outright shoot you." warned Anderson and received a nod from the two Guardian's.

"Oh! Just to sweeten the deal, here's a little something to get things started." said Chase as he had El send Anderson something to his omni-tool. When Anderson looked at it his eyes grew wide.

"Wha!? This is-!?" started the Captain but was hushed by the Hunter who gestured to the still sleeping Megan in his arms.

"Just a little something to help with your argument Captain."

"I see, but what are you going to do now?"

"Well first we're gonna go to the Citadel and make a case to a trio of moron's in which afterwards we're gonna go hunting for a certain Turian whose ass I plan to mount on my wall." said Chase casually as Anderson had to hold back a chuckle at the thought of someone literally putting the Spectre's ass on their wall.

"Well that's all well and good but what about her?" gestured the captain towards Megan just as she snuggled deeper into the Hunter's chest piece.

"..."

For once Chase was at a loss for words as he didn't know how to answer him. Logically he should hand her over to the Alliance to find any relatives that may still be living to take care of her or be put in a foster home if there weren't any. It was the smart move, but Chase didn't see it as the right move. Every time he looked at her all he could see was the girl he had found huddling in the corner hoping that the Geth didn't come back for her and that alone is what made him hesitate in letting her go. With a human hating Turian with an army of AI on the loose no place was safe for her or any human being for that matter. It was then Chase had made his decision.

"...until Saren and the Geth are dealt with she stays with me." stated the Hunter with no room for argument and Anderson didn't feel the need to start one.

Just then Anderson received a message from his omni-tool and quickly opened it to check its contents. A small smile spread across his face as he read what it said. Seems he would get to have a chat with the commander before they reached the Citadel after all. Closing the message he stood from his seat and gestured for the three to follow him.

"Looks like the commander is awake. Let's go pay her a visit shall we?"

 **Well there's my longest chapter to date guys! Now I know you're gonna be wondering just what did Anderson get from Chase but that will be explained later. Next chapter we see how the Guardian's deal with the Council and gather the team! Review and/or PM me!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Here's that long awaited update people! Hope you enjoy it! Also, as for not including the codex I found it kind of redundant to do so as nothing in either the Destiny or Mass Effect universe has changed prior to the Guardian's arrival. If you don't already even have a smidge of knowledge on the Mass Effect history then take this as a chance to look it up for yourself and have a good read.**

 **Also for those who may be curious, this story will be told mainly in the POV of the Guardian's with a few extra input's here and there.**

* * *

After their talk with Anderson said Captain was now leading the three Guardian's and human child towards the medbay where a newly awakened Commander Shepard waited. The little girl, Megan was still unconscious so Chase was forced to carry her while Caleb-31 and Lexi trailed behind with all three now donning their helmets. Caleb and Lexi had their's on for obvious reason's while Chase had donned his just to not feel left out, plus the looks on the Alliance personnel's face when they saw the three of them made him smile in amusement.

Before long the group had made it to the medbay and stepped in to see the aged medic examining the now awake Commander with her Omni-tool while the Turian Spectre Nihlus was laying on another berth hooked up to some machine's to keep him in a medically induced coma so as to better help him heal from his injuries.

"How's our XO and Nihlus doing doctor?" suddenly asked Anderson after the Doctor completed her scan's.

"Physically, she's in perfect health but I was picking up a large increase in brain activity while she was unconscious. As for Nihlus..."

As the two senior Alliance members discussed the health of their Commander and resident Spectre, said Commander was having her own chat with the new oddities to the ship.

"So Anderson decided to bring you three along for the ride huh?" Jane asked the group as she stretched out her sore muscles.

"Don't be too excited now Shepard we're mostly just here to stick it to a certain Turian bastard. Still, it's good to see that beacon didn't scramble your brain before it blew up." threw out Chase, and while his face couldn't be seen the smirk on his face could be heard through just his tone.

Shepard rolled her eye's before seeing the girl in the Hunter's arms and couldn't help but vocalize her curiosity, "so what is the kid doing here? This is an Alliance military vessel so she shouldn't even be here."

"Chase found her on Eden Prime while he was scouting the residential area. He decided that until Saren and his forces are dealt with she doesn't leave his sight, don't bother trying to argue with him cause once he makes up his mind nothing you say or do will change it." explained Lexi while sending Chase a look.

Before the Hunter could raise a defense against the accusations from one of his fellow Guardian's however, Anderson decided to step in after getting an update from the good Doctor.

"If it is alright with you I would like to have a few words with the Commander alone. Why don't you head up to the bridge, we should be coming up on the Citadel soon enough and it is a sight you don't want to miss." suggested Anderson as the three Guardian's couldn't help but roll their eyes under their helmet's at the statement. After all the shit they had seen a mere fifty kilometer long space station is probably the most mundane thing they had ever seen. Still, they took the veteran's advice and left the medbay to go towards the bridge.

Entering their private comm's channel, Cal decided it was time to question Chase on what exactly he gave Anderson before they went to see Shepard.

"So fearless leader what exactly was it that you gave Anderson to earn his trust?" spoke the Exo curiously before adding in an amused tone, "whatever it was made the guys eye's light up like a child who just had candy for the first time."

Chase in response gave a noncommittal shrug before answering, "I just gave the guy the means to produce and harness Arc energy as well as blueprints for a new FTL drive that puts everything we currently have back at the Tower to shame. I planned to put the same in our ship's but there just wasn't enough time before we left on the mission that threw us here."

"Wait a second, where did you get this new FTL drive from? The only places you could get that kind of tech would be from either the Vex or," started Lexi before realization struck her and to say she was not pleased would be an understatment," the Bray Facility!? Chase please tell me you didn't!"

"Okay I didn't." responded Chase in a cheeky tone that only served to annoy his Warlock compatriot even more.

"Chase, you know Zavala forbade us from taking any intel from the facility unless he _and_ Anna authorized it." chastised the Titan but the Hunter just waved it off.

"Oh please I didn't go against Zavala's order's. He _specifically_ stated that, 'fireteam Rogue may not extract any information from the Bray Facility on Mar's without express permission from both myself and Anna Bray.' Well only _I_ entered the Facility and took the info, not fireteam Rogue."

"Your blatant abuse of technicalities to get your way is starting to rival Cayde's! By the Traveler I can't believe how I manage to put up with you!" ranted Lexi with crossed arms as they finally reached the bridge only to be graced with the sight of the Normandy's pilot, Joker, at the helm. The trio found the steup for the ship pretty odd but weren't too bothered by it as they had seen far wierder in their times aboard other alien vessel's.

Said pilot was quick to notice the new addition's to his personal sanctum but didn't seem at all bothered, in fact he seemed kind of interested if they were being honest.

"Well if it isn't the trio of heroes who helped save Eden Prime. Name's Jeff Moreau but people just call me Joker. Hey which one of you was the one that blew that Turian guys hand off?" asked the pilot.

"That would be me Joker. Bastard had it coming I tell ya, such a shame he's never gonna get to use that right hand again." answered Chase with fake sympathy at the end.

"Well next time you get the chance why don't you put one between his eyes for the both of us. You took a hand but I think ruining his pretty little face would be a lot more satisfying."

"I'll make a note of that Joker, but when I saw him he wasn't all that pretty to start with." replied Chase, earning a laugh from the pilot.

"By the Light there's two of them now." whispered Lexi to Caleb who could only nod in agreement.

For the next few minutes Lexi and Caleb took the opportunity to observe the cockpit's interior while Joker and Chase spoke as if they were old friends and regaling each-other with tales of their own flying experiences. Thankfully the Commander and Captain had arrived to break the two up.

"Glad to see you up Commander and good timing as well we're just arriving at the Citadel now." announced Joker as the Normandy exited the Mass Relay to reveal the Citadel in all its splendor. Though while the Commander and Captain took in the sight with appreciation and a bit of awe, the three Guardian's were of a different mindset.

When they first laid eyes upon the Citadel they didn't see the beauty of the large structure that was illuminated by the nebula behind it, no, what they _felt_ upon seeing it spoke more to them than anything else. The Darkness that this place radiated was intense enough to be felt from where they stood and steadily grew as the Normandy drew closer. The feeling of this particular Darkness was exactly like the kind that radiated of that ship from Eden Prime and that only brought the three to the conclusion that the two were somehow connected.

Not a word was spoken between the three the entire way there as they could only wonder what new enemy they may now face and what it's connection to this place truly was.

* * *

After docking on the Citadel Anderson, Shepard, Kaiden, Ashley and the Guardian's prepared to disembark. Chase had decided for Morgan to be looked after by Joker while they were gone. While he was quite reluctant at first the Normandy pilot eventually agreed to look after the kid while the rest went to meet the Council.

The Guardian's decided to go a little low key and not as heavily armed as they had been on Eden Prime so instead of the Vigilance Wing Chase had opted to just stick with his personal hand cannon Crismon holstered on his right thigh until he actually needed to bust out the bigger guns. Lexi had gone a similiar route but instead had her Sunshot hand cannon laying across her lower back, and Caleb had the Tractor Cannon shotgun on hand just in case they needed the firepower.

It didn't go as well as they hoped however cause as soon as the group set foot on the Citadel Lexi stumbled before Caleb caught her. The Warlock held her head as her mind was assaulted by many images of death and destruction by ships and creatures much like the Husks and strange ship on Eden Prime. Being a Warlock she was much more susceptible to visions of both the past and future, especially in places that hold great significance such as this place seemed to be. Thankfully the Alliance members of the group didn't seem to notice the problem and after a minute Lexi had managed to stop the visions and could regain her bearings.

"What happened Lexi, what did you see?" asked Caleb with a good bit of concern, the Warlock never got visions that bad unless she was witnessing something terrible or extremely important.

"This is a place of death. This is no sanctuary or great monument to the wonder's of an ancient race, this is a tomb whose count of occupants is never ending." was the grave response and neither of her comrade's could find any words to respond with. Attuned to sensing the Darkness they may be, but a Warlock's senses in matters like these had no equal.

"So here's what's going to have to happen," suddenly spoke up Anderson to get everyone's attention, "I contacted Admiral Hackett of the fifth fleet and he would like to have a word with you three." he said as he gestured towards the Guardians.

"But I thought you needed me for the trial since I was an eye witness and all that?" questioned Chase.

"We do need you for the trial, so would it be alright if your two teammates were to meet the Admiral without you?" asked the Captain.

The Hunter looked back at his teammates and after a brief moment received two nods of confirmation.

"That would be fine Captain, just make sure that they can meet the rest of us at the Presidium when they're finished as who knows how many spies and scumbag's Saren's got working for him on the Citadel."

Anderson easily agreed to Chase's request and after calling a skycar that would bring Caleb and Lexi to their meeting point they called their own and were on their way to meet Udina before finally meeting the Council.

* * *

 _with Chase_

After separating from his teammates the ride to Udina's office was pretty uneventful, and when they finally arrived they came in right at the end of what must have been a heated discussion between the Human representative and the Council. Chase merely hung in the background as he listened to Udina state his greivances with just about everyone, so when he got to Chase the Hunter wasn't really surprised by what the man said to him.

"So I assume your the one who allegedly shot Saren Arterius on Eden Prime?"

"There are no allegations Ambassador, I shot that prick and blew his hand clean off." corrected Chase as he stared Udina down through his helmet.

"Hm, with that kind of conviction then we might just have a case. Meet me at the Presidium, the trial is soon to begin." stated Udina before leaving the office without another word or glance back.

"...well he was pleasant." deadpanned Chase.

"He's just under a lot of pressure from the Council. We are basically accusing their top agent of treason after all." threw out Kaiden but Ash was quick to counter.

"He's under stress? He wasn't there when everything went to hell and people were being turned in fucking zombies by the Geth."

"Enough both of you! Let's just get to the Presidium and get this trial over with already. With any luck they'll believe us." commanded Shepard with a bit of a hopeful tone at the end.

"Don't get your hopes up Shepard I can already tell this is gonna be a shit show. I mean come on, a trial not even twenty four hours after everything goes down? That is nowhere near enough time to gather all of the necessary evidence and that is if they even allow C-sec to look into Saren's files which are, because he is a 'Spectre', classified!" exclaimed Chase as he could see between the lines and also saw how little fucks the Council actually gave about this trial and humanities claims.

"Regardless we just have to do what we can to get the Council to see reason. Now let's go before we're late." stated Anderson with finality before leading the group back to the skaycar that would take them to the Presidium and where they could take the elevator to the Council's chambers.

Needless to say the ride was extremely boring and was made even more so when the finally arrived and got on the elevator, which was the slowest damn thing Chase had ever been on in his life! For Speaker's sakes who designed such a piece of crap thing? The broken down mining elevator infested with Fallen was faster than this thing!

Stepping into the Council chambers they could already see Udina arguing with the Council while next to them was Saren himself in hologram form. Seeing this Chase could not hold himself back from voicing his thoughts on Saren's 'prescence' or rather lack thereof.

"Well looky here, big bad Saren too much of a wuss to show up in the flesh for his own trial. Scared I may take your other hand off stumpy?" said Chase and instantly drawing all eyes towards him with Saren's being a full on glare though he didn't respond to the Hunter's jab.

"You mind keeping your subordinates in line Anderson." growled out Sparatus as he glared at the Hunter for his lack of decorum and blatant insult of the Council's top agent.

"I'm not his subordinate jerk-off, I'm only here as an eye witness for the trial." retorted the Guardian.

Before Sparatus could rant on about Chase's 'lack of respect' his fellow Councilor's stopped him and proceeded with the trial. Meanwhile Chase was more occupied in talking with his Ghost, who he had scanning every bit of the area they were currently in as well as hacking any and all info she could. After Lexi's little espicoe on the docks they all felt it prudent to gather as much intel about this place as possible and it's possible connection to that machine they saw back on Eden Prime. Though he was keeping an ear on the trial and wasn't the least bit surprised when they threw off his claim of having blown Saren's hand off saying 'it could have been a lucky merc while he was on his mission.' Bastards.

It was quite interesting to find that the Citadel had much the same system as those of a Mass Relay, but what was far more important was the fact that the Citadel was far older than what everyone thought. While it was true that it was around during the time of the Prothean's, it's actual age is millions if not billions of years beyond that. Lexi was right to say that this place was a veritable death trap. He was only broken out of his musings when he heard a particular fact being mentioned that slightly, no, really pissed him off.

"Wait, wait HOLD UP! You mean to tell me that you gave this fucker all the files that Nihlus had about his mission and we only find out about this now? Not only that but saying C-sec turned up no evidence really isn't convincing since you didn't even give them enough time to gather evidence let alone allow them to access Saren's files. Why don't you just admit you've rigged this trial already and are just going to say he's innocent like we all know your gonna do?" blatantly stated Chase which silenced everyone.

"You dare accuse this Council of intentionally sabotaging this trial!? We've let your previous disrespect go till now human but such an accusation will not be tolerated!" roared Sparatus.

It was all silent for a moment before Chase spoke, but instead of his usual calm if cheeky tone it was now cold and harsh, "did you really accuse me of lacking respect? Respect for who? A trio of morons who only look after their own interest and say fuck off to everyone else!? I do accuse this Council of sabatoge as you have gone out of your way to make sure Saren's proven innocent on paper but I was _there_. I was there on Eden Prime when it's citizens were being slaughtered, and I was there when THAT sonofabitch tried to kill Nihlus. So go ahead and say he's innocent, but that won't save him from me or my team when we hunt his ass down to put a bullet in his head and I'd like to see any of you try and stop us."

Chase then turned to walk away having reached his limit in dealing with these morons. When he reached the entrance however, he stopped and decided to give a last bit of advice to the shocked faces that watched him, "oh, and you may want to start getting ready."

"Ready for what?" asked the Asari Councilor Tevos having now found her voice.

"To explain to the remaining families of those that died on Eden Prime why their families killer was let free and why they were denied justice."

With his peace said the Guardian quickly left the Council chambers in order to wait in the main plaza for the rest of his team to arrive. It was funny really, he had faced down legions of enemies and even god's without a shred of hesitation and with utmost ease, but standing in that room and being judged by a bunch of politician's about 'who knew what' was the most nerve grating thing he had ever dealt with. By the Traveler he really hated politic's.

* * *

 _with Caleb and Lexi_

After their departure from Chase and the others Caleb and Lexi were taken to a skycar that was already preset to head to Admiral Hackett's current location. As they sat in said skycar Caleb suddenly gripped his head as a minor headache took over him. Lexi looked over at him in concern but as suddenly as it had come over him his minor pain had ceased.

"You okay Cal?" asked the Warlock.

"Yeah, just another headache, must mean my mind is getting a little too full. I'll have to make some room soon enough, that info download really took a lot of room." replied Caleb with a wave.

It was a common fact that Exo's had limited memory that every once in a while needed to be 'refreshed'. As Exo's got older, and therefore had more refreshes, the memory space got smaller and smaller. Caleb-44 as his name implied had 44 memory refresher's and so his memory wasn't the best. It got to the point actually that he would receive headache's whenever he was close to having his memory wiped again, however he also discovered that thanks to his Ghost he was able to just simply download the unnecessary memories onto him and he would still be able to call upon them should the need arise. A very useful trick, too bad it only applied to Exo Guardian's since this method required a Ghost to use it. Makes one wonder why Cayde preferred forgetting his first five lives rather than saving them?

After Caleb's little episode the rest of the ride was spent in silence and before long the duo had arrived at their chosen destination, which happened to be a simple office area for Alliance affairs and military personnel. After checking in they were quickly led to Hackett's office where the man was sat calmly behind his desk, observing them.

At first glance both could tell this man was a veteran soldier as the calculating and experienced look in his eyes reminded them somewhat of Zavala and Caleb could not help but stand a little straighter as his military mannerisms dictated. Lexi for her part was more interested in how he aqcuired the scar on his face but figured it must have been from an old battle, probably with some pirates or even from the First Contact War with the Turians. Either way he looked like a man who took shit from no one and was more than experienced and trusworthy enough for what they had planned.

"So you are the Guardian's that Anderson told me about. You certainly fit his description to a T. I am Admiral Hackett of the Fifth Fleet of the Alliance Navy." greeted the Admiral.

"I am Lexi, Warlock Guardian for the Vanguard." introduced Lexi as she dispelled her helmet since she felt that being a little formal with this man would be best for now.

Caleb then stepped forward and gave a salute as he spoke, "Caleb-44, Titan Guardian for the Vanguard."

Hackett was surprised at the crisp military salute given to him by the synthetic but returned it nonetheless, "at ease soldier. Glad to see Anderson's report's on you were accurate. But we're not here for a social call, you say you want to help humanity and from the blueprint's Anderson gave me, that he allaedgedly recieved from your third member, you may just be able to. But tell me, why should we trust you?"

At this point Caleb stepped forward, as being the more militarily inclined of his comrade's he felt obligated to be the speaker for this little meeting in his leader's absence, "sir, our humanity has always been on the backfoot ever since the Collapse of the Golden Age. While your situation may not be exactly the same we are still Gaurdian's of Humanity and will continue to do our job however we can. I'm sure you've already heard this all from Anderson and our leader so there is not much else I can say on the matter, but please believe that the only thing we want is for humanity to prosper and reach its full potential."

The sheer conviction in the Exo's words were felt by the other two occupant's and Lexi could not be more proud of her teammate's words. Hackett for a while just continued to stare the Exo in his glowing eyes as if searching for some reason to not believe him. Eventually though the aged veteran conceded with a small nod as well as the barest ghost of a smile.

"I believe you son, just needed to hear the words for myself. Your not the only ones to feel this way about humanities position after all, but you are the first to offer solutions. With what your friend has given us so far we can already start making leap's that would put us ahead of the other races. However, you also spoke about getting us allies through the Quarian's and Krogan and I'm just curious on how you plan on doing that?" asked Hackett, eager to hear their answer.

Lexi was the next one to step up as she felt it was her turn to speak on this particular part of the Guardian's plan, "the Krogan will be easy enough as giving them a cure for the Genophage will automatically put them on our side but to solidify the alliance we would need a strong Krogan to take control of all the other clans and ensure it holds. As for the Quarians we will not only need to give them someplace to settle but we would also need to help them maintain their ships and maybe even help settle their conflict with the Geth. Out of the two I feel the Quarian's will be the greater challenge as they are naturally untrustworthy of other's due to the stigma they have recieved for creating the Geth thanks to the idiot's on the Council. But if we can just get one Quarian to help us I am sure we can get them to listen and at least consider our offer."

"Hmm, you realize this will take a lot of resources and has a lot of risk involved should the Council figure out what we're trying to do." warned Hackett but only received a grin from Lexi along with the equivalent of a grin from the Exo.

"Nothing worth doing is ever without risk sir." pointed out Caleb, which actually got a small chuckle from the Admiral.

"Fair enough son, now let's hammer out the final detail's and figure out just how the hell we're gonna pull this off."

No one knew that right then and there that the fate of humanity had taken a drastic turn from its previous course. Soon enough the entire Galaxy and all of its inhabitants would learn just what humanity was truly capable of, and they would either join them in their rise, or be swept away by the overwhelming wave. Not even the monster's hiding in the emptiness of Dark space knew just what was coming, and that the sole cause of it was three Guardian's with a penchant for doing the impossible.

* * *

 **Well there's the next chapter everyone! Review and/or PM me!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey guys here's the next chapter for ya! Hope you enjoy it!**

After his blowup at the trial Chase had decided to wait outside the meeting chambers for his team and the others. While there he saw a salarian trying to 'stealthily' scan one of the keepers. He had read up a little about the keepers and found it strange how they have been around since the Citadel was first discovered by the Asari but so little was known about them. But rather than confront the alien, Chase decided to have his Ghost scan the keeper discreetly.

What he discovered was that these things were nearly as old as the Citadel themselves! How that was possible he could only guess but it didn't lessen the unease he was feeling. Being a Hunter and a Guardian he was quite familiar with traps of all kinds and this whole station was giving off that same vibe. Lexi's vision was becoming more and more realistic the longer they stayed here that was for sure.

His inner worries were broken off as he saw the Alliance members plus the Ambassador making their way over to him and Udina looked furious but also impressed.

"That was a very reckless move on your part Guardian, what you just accused the Council of could be considered treason." said Udina once they had reached him.

"I only pointed out the obvious. If they can't handle someone calling them out on their bullshit that's not my problem." replied Chase.

"It becomes your problem when Sparatus wanted to have you arrested and I had to get him to reconsider. While I do appreciate you pointing out the obvious flaws in their logic and methods it has now put us into a more dire position. Without irrefutable proof the Council will never convict Saren."

"Then we will just need to find some" came the reply from Lexi as she and Cal walked up to the assembled group with Shepard quickly taking up where Lexi left off.

"She's right, SPECTR or not everyone leaves behind a trail, we just need to find one that points to Saren's involvement with the Geth." said Shepard

"Spoken like a true Hunter Shepard. Alright so we know what to do but where do we start?" asked Chase

"What about that Turian C-sec guy, Garrus. He seemed to have some beef with Saren." said Kaiden

Chase was briefly confused on who he was talking about but then remembered that while he was busy listening to his Ghost they had briefly encountered two Turian's arguing and one of them appeared to actually be on their side in regards to Saren. Man he has got to start paying more attention to his surroundings.

"If you want to find Garrus then talk to Harkin. He might be scum but he should know where to find Garrus. He was recently suspended so you should be able to find him at Chora's Den in the Wards. You may also want to check out Barla Von, a Volus in the merchant district. I hear he is an agent of the Shadow Broker and if you need intel he is the one to go to." supplied Anderson

"Sound's like a plan sir, but who do we talk to first?" asked Ash.

Caleb quickly tossed in his two sense after Ash had finished, "why not both? Shepard, you Kaiden and Ash can go find Harkin to track down Garrus while Chase, Lexi and I talk to Barla Von and see if he's got any info on Saren. The quicker we get this done the better."

The group unanimously agreed with the Guardian's plan and after some farwell's from Anderson and Udina the groups quickly separated with Shepard and her group heading to the Wards, while the Guardian's began to make their way towards the market district.

* * *

On the way to Barla Von's location Chase was informing his teammates about the events of the trial and they were giving their report on their meeting with Hackett. Needless to say Chase got quite the mixed review as while they were happy for him for standing up for humanity they didn't approve of the tactless way he had done so. But while all of this was interesting in itself it was the info Lexi had gotten from her Ghost about the Citadel itself that really took the cake.

"Wait, so you mean to tell me that this whole station is nothing more than an oversized Mass Relay laying in wait to activate?" asked Cal as Lexi hadn't informed him of this when they were coming back from Hackett's office and the Exo really didn't like not being privy to her hacking ventures. They already had enough of that with Chase.

"Exactly. The saddest part is that the info isn't too hidden and can be accessed quite easily by any reasonable hacker. That means that these people must rely on the keepers so heavily that they never bothered to actually study the Citadel in its entirety." confirmed the Warlock with obvious annoyance. In her mind, using tech and not fully understanding it was just lazy, half-assed and downright disrespectful towards those whose technology they based their own off of.

Looking over at Chase Lexi noticed he was pretty deep in thought as while he glided through the crowds with the natural grace only a Hunter could possess, his gaze was distant showing he was deep in thought. Cal, feeling worried for his team leader and friend, laid a giant hand on his shoulder making the Hunter tense and have to resist the urge to draw Crimson when he realized it was just Caleb. Looking back at his teammates he could just tell they were giving him worried looks under their helmets.

"What's got you thinking Chase? You never zone out like that unless something is weighing real heavily on your mind." Asked Lexi with concern.

"It's the fact this whole place seems like a very convenient trap. Especially with what I found out during my scan's of the keepers. Those bug's are nearly as old as the Citadel itself meaning they either are the creator's or were put here by them to maintain the station. Not only that, but deeper scan's showed that the keepers are programmed to react to somekind of signal which I believe is to activate the Citadel's function as a Mass Relay now that Lexi brought it up." explained Chase which lexi found his logic sound as did Caleb but knew there had to be more to it or else Chase wouldn't be this deep in his own thoughts.

"While that does explain something's, but I think you've got more to say." pointed out Cal.

Taking a quick look around, Chase found themselves just entering the Market district and promptly dragged his teammates towards an empty area to talk. He quickly had El make sure any types of surveillance near them were shut down or scrambled before he continued to speak to Caleb and Lexi.

"What I am saying is that this entire place is the perfect trap. Think about it, a fresh space fairing race finds the Citadel and finds out it is completely self sustaining thanks to the keepers, they go in and make it their base of galactic power, only for one day the keepers get a signal to activate the Mass Relay and all of a sudden a whole army of never before seen enemies swoop in and destroy the command structure of the Galaxy in one fell swoop. The Portheans didn't just dissapear guys, they were extreminated by whoever made this place and with everything going on I think it's about to happen again. I know it may sound insane but everything in my gut is telling me it's true." stated Chase and getting the two other Guardian's to stare in stunned silence.

Now normally anyone hearing what Chase had just said would have thought him mad, but after decade's of fighting alongside each-other against the worst creatures in the Galaxy, the level of trust and comradery amongst them would never allow them to think like that. Chase's gut instinct had saved their asses in the field more times than could be counted and if he was even half right about the Citadel then they were in really deep trouble. After all, an unknown force able to eradicate the greatest space fairing race, at least in this galaxy, to date was something not to be underestimated.

"...that makes so much sense it's scary. But your theory has merit Chase, from a military standpoint if the enemy takes out the highest structure of government then that basically leaves all of their opposition leaderless and unable to mount a decent defense, leaving them nothing but lambs for the slaughter." stated Cal darkly as he couldn't help but think back to fall of Humanites Golden Age and how they were sorely unprepared for the Darkness when it came and tore through their home like an unforgiving plague.

"If this is true Chase then we may not have much time to prepare humanity for this coming storm. We need a plan to face this new threat, no matter what it may be." stated Lexi with firm conviction.

"I'm glad you guys agree with me but we have to focus on the present and what Saren's planning. I have a feeling they coincide with my little theory, but until we have proof we should probably focus on putting that pale bastards ass in the ground." replied Chase.

With their conversation finished they quickly left to find Barla Von in his office. Just like most Volus he wasn't very impressive, barely coming up to their waist and very pudgy while being stuffed into an enviro-suit and the wheezing all pointed to a very weak species. Though they more than made up for it with their financial intellect, which is probably why they were the ones to design the galactic economy of the Council species.

Upon seeing the three new individual's Barla quickly rose to greet them with a sort of excitement that was usually out of place for him.

"Well if it isn't the new rising celebrities of the Galaxy! To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?"

Lexi decided to step in at that point, "well if your wondering we're here because we think you may have some information on Saren Arterius and his connection with the Geth. Also, how are we celebrities if I may ask?"

"Oh you probably haven't seen it yet have you? Your friend's show at the trial was broadcasted all over the extranet and has drawn many humans and non-council species alike into frenzy. They're basically calling him 'The Voice of Humanity.' But that is just what I've heard."

Neither of his companions needed to look at Chase to know he was sporting a shit-eating grin.

 _'Anything you want to say on how that video got out El?'_ questioned the Hunter mentally towards his Ghost.

 _'I have no idea what your talking about partner.'_ was the mock innocent reply before Lexi's voice drove them back on track.

"Okay well that explain's that but what about the intel on Saren?" she asked the Volus who quickly replied.

"Oh yes, well you already probably know my connection to the Shadow Broker so I'll ge straight to the point. Word has it a Quarian with information implicating Saren on Eden Prime made contact with Fist, the owner of Chora's Den and another agent of the Broker. The thing is though that Fist betrayed the Shadow Broker for Saren."explained Barla.

"I'm guessing the Shadow Broker didn't take too kindly to that did he?" asked Cal with obvious sarcasm.

"Obviously. In fact the Broker has hired a Krogan mercenary to deal with Fist."

"What about the Quarian?" asked Chase as the intel was vital so finding the Quarian and securing the intel was top priority.

"That I do not know as she apparently made an arrangement with Fist so only he would know where to find her." answered the Volus.

"Ya know your being pretty forthcoming with information and getting nothing in return?" questioned Cal with crossed arms and wondering what game the alien was playing.

"Oh but I am. Giving you intel puts you on the right track to Saren, who has also betrayed the Broker. So helping you helps the Broker which in turn helps me. I am sorry to say that that is all the information I have for you." finished Barla Von.

"Thank you, we'll make sure to put it to good use." finished Lexi as she and the other two members of her fireteam left the Volus' office.

Once they were outside Chase quickly jumped into action as team leader, "alright I want El, Lex and Zen scouring this station's surveillance equipment for that Quarian, knowing how poorly they're treated they'll probably be down in the Wards. Lexi, I want you and Caleb on high alert and ready for a fight. If this Quarian really has intel on Saren then he isn't gonna let them go without a fight. I'm gonna check up on Shepard and see what she's got so far.

Following his order's Cal and Lexi both began checking their equipment getting ready to move out and/or fight at a moments notice while the teams Ghosts quickly began combing the station for probably the most important alien on the station at that moment. Chase meanwhile was getting into contact with Shepard as he said and only hoping that she may have another lead to follow up on in securing the Quarian.

 ** _'Shepard this is Chase do you read me?'_**

 ** _'Shepard here. Chase have you gotten a lead from Barla Von?'_**

 ** _'Oh did we. Word is Fist betrayed the Shadow Broker for Saren so now he's got a Krogan Mercenary after his head. Aside from that though Fist allegedly made contact with a Quarian that may have implicating evidence of Saren connecting him to the attack on Eden Prime. My team and I are already looking for them but Fist is the only one who would know for sure where they are but I don't think he's gonna give that info up willingly. How about you, did you find Garrus?'_**

 ** _'Let me worry about Fist, plus I'm already moving to recruit that Krogan, after all a Krogan mercenary on our side may loosen Fists tongue. As for Garrus we got him, despite Harkin being a sexist ass. You keep looking for the Quarian and I'll update you with any intel I get as soon as I get it.'_**

 ** _'Gotcha, over and out.'_**

Ending the comm's, it was a few minutes later that El quickly brought up a waypoint after mentally telling Chase to don his helmet, all the while ignoring the stares of the civilians that witnessed the little light show that had occurred from the act. With a simple motion of his hand Fireteam Rogue quickly moved out taking the marked shortcut's down to the Wards where Zen had spotted a female Quarian nervously making her way towards a secluded area of the Wards, a perfect place for a secret dealing.

Thanks to the directions given to them by their Ghosts they actually arrived a little bit early. On their way to the Wards Chase had sent a quick message to Shepard letting her know he found the Quarian but by then she had already started her invasion of Chora's Den meaning the Guardian's would have to secure the Quarian themselves. Quickly taking in the layout of the area, and the general direction in which their target was expected to come from, he quickly positioned Cal and Lexi on either side of the Quarian's entrance point to ensure she doesn't run-off and so no one takes a shot from behind. Chase himself would be cloaked on the opposite end where Saren's cronies were expected to appear, creating a perfect ambush.

After taking their positions they waited a few short minutes before Saren's goons arrived consisting of one Turian and two Salarian's, all armed and ready for a fight. The Quarian showed up shortly after the previous group, while she still seemed nervous and maybe scared she walked forward with confidence that the Guardian's couldn't help but respect for someone in her situation.

"Are you the Shadow Broker, and where is Fist?" demanded/asked the Quarian as she already felt something was wrong with this whole scenario.

The Turian stepped forward as the two Salarian's stayed back. The way the guy held himself was cocky and very sleazy, especially when he casually brought up a talon tipped appendage and started to rub the Quarian's arm in a flirty manner.

"He'll be here. Do you have the data?" replied the Turian casually as he ran his eyes up and down the Quarian's form, before she suddenly slapped the appendage away.

"No way, deals off!" she snarled as the Turian shook his head sadly.

"This could have gone a lot easier for you." he sighed half-heartedly while making a motion to the two Salarian's who upon seeing the signal began to draw weapons and move in to apprehend and/or kill the Quarian.

This Quarian however wasn't going to go without a fight, and while she had been interacting with the Turian she had been prepping a grenade behind her back. A grenade she quickly tossed towards her attackers as she rushed back towards a small wall for cover. Seeing the grenade, the Turian quickly leaped to the side before the grenade exploded near the two Salarian's, while it didn't kill them it did dissorient them long enough for Tali to make it to cover and draw her shotgun from her lower back.

During this time her assailant's had quickly recovered and were ready to start firing, but it was not to be. Suddenly two figures appeared from behind the Quarian's position, startling everyone there.

Seeing the shock and confusion their sudden appearance had caused, the Guardian's quickly took advantage as Caleb raised his Tractor Cannon and fired a single round. Said round slammed into one of the Salarian hitmen hard enough that their entire body _rippled_ like water as their shield's shattered and their armor cracked, just before the body was sent flying all the way to the opposite wall where it splattered in a gory display leaving nothing but a bloody blue smear on the walls.

Seeing the fate of their comrade the remaining two hired guns had no time to react as Lexi brought up Sunshot to aim at the last Salarian before firing a concentrated round of Sol energy right into their head. The energy based round completely bypassed their shields and ripped through their helmet with laughable ease. What happened next terrefied both the Quarian and the Turian, as when the round struck the Salarian the power of the shot briefly sent it's target into the air, only for the body to quickly burn away to ash faster than any incendiary round could hope to achieve.

"Forget this! Saren isn't paying me enough for this crap!" cried the Turian as he made to run back the way him and his crew had come, only to find himself staring down the barrel of a rather large hand-cannon as the attached blade underneath scraped his chin.

"So much for hired help these days." said Chase coldly as he stared down the Turian.

Said Turian quickly dropped his weapon and raised his arms in surrender, "wait, don't shoot! I have information on Saren!"

"Oh? So you can tell me where he is right now, his current plans and who some of his other allies might be?" asked Chase and saw the Turian start to shake in fear.

"W-well n-no not r-really. But I kno-" *BANG*, the Turian began before Chase fired a round that popped the Turian's head like a melon.

A quick little twirl of Crimson and Chase re-holstered his weapon as he moved towards where the Quarian and his team were. The Quarian for her part was still tense and still held her shotgun ready incase her saviors turned out to be hostile, but other than that she made no move to attack. The sight of her previous assailant's splattered over the area probably stopped her from acting as well if she were being honest.

"When did you install a single fire mode for Crimson?" asked Cal as Chase reached them.

"Shortly after our little adventure on Mars with Brey. Figured why waste three shots when one can do the job sometimes." shrugged the Hunter.

"But doesn't Crimson immediately reload after a kill, so what does it matter if you waste two rounds?" pointed out Lexi, making Chase sigh in annoyance.

"For the last damn time Lexi, Crimson has a compact generator where upon a successful kill, activates and convert's glimmer into new rounds to refill the magazine. But, if I can't kill the target before the clip runs out I still have to reload like everyone else! I'm not gonna waste ammo if I can help it so just drop it dammit!" ranted Chase and he could practically see the smirk on Lexi's face. She always liked to push his button's on his habit of hoarding and conserving as much ammo as possible.

"U-um excuse me?" came the shy voice of the Quarian they had just rescued, which drew all of the Guardian's attention. Now having them all focused on her she hesitated but still gathered the courage to speak up after a moment, "I want to t-thank you for s-saving me, but I-I must ask, who are you and what do you want with me?"

"Oh sorry about that kid. My name's Chase, Leader of Fireteam Rogue. These are my two teammates Caleb and Lexi," introduced Chase as he gestured towards the other two Guardians, "as for what we want with you, well you've got intel on Saren that we need, and seeing as we just saved you we would really appreciate you sharing that intel with us."

"My name is Tali, Tali Zorah'Nar'Rayya, not kid. As for the data I'll be happy to share it with you. I only went to Fist to exchange the data to the Shadow Broker for protection, but the boshtet set me up!" she exclaimed angrily, and before anyone could say anything else, Shepard's team, along with Garrus and the newly acquired Krogan rushed onto the scene with weapons drawn and looking for a fight, until they saw the Guardian's plus Quarian with what appeared to be the remains of the hit squad that was after Tali.

"Looks like we missed the fun Shepard." growled the Krogan as they all holstered weapons and moved towards the others with Shepard taking the lead.

"Good to see you three made it one time I assume this is the Quarian with the data?"

"On time Shepard? We got here early enough to set up an ambush for Saren's schmucks, and yes this is the one we were looking for. Her names Tali and she would be more than happy to help us with Saren." scoffed Chase as the Commander stared down the Quarian with a smile that put her slightly at ease.

"Glad to see your willing to help Tali. Why don't we head back to the human embassy where it's safer?" suggested Shepard kindly.

"I would like that." replied Tali with a happy sigh as the group began to move towards the Embassy with none noticing the Cal's Ghost downloading all the information it could gather from the headless Turian's Omni-tool.

Yet not even the Guardian's noticed as they were also being watched, through a small purple window someone watched the Guardian's as they walked off with the mixed bag of aliens and humans.

Their silent audience appeared to be an Awoken like Lexi as denoted from her baby blue toned skin and snow white hair. Her amber colored eyes stared intensely at the three children of the Light as a small amused smile pulled at her lips. It had been awhile since she had seen her favorite team of Guardian's and she couldn't be anymore amused at their current situation.

"You three always were a magnet for the unusual. I wish I could bring you back but the Nine want you there for a reason, still it can't hurt to send you a little comfort from home now can it?" mused Mara Sov, the Queen of the Reef as she held up a small package before pushing it into the portal with which it quickly disappeared.

Smiling to herself at the deed the Awoken Monarch suddenly frowned as she realized just what kind of news the three would receive upon using her 'gift'. While it would be sad and even heartbreaking, they needed to hear it and she could only hope that the Vanguard's most memorable fireteam to date could rise to the occassion when the time came.

"That world depends upon you Guardian's, may you rise above the Darkness of that world and show it the power of the Traveler's Light."

 **Well there's the next chapter for you all Review and/or Pm me!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Alright guys I didn't want to have to explain this but due to a certain review I feel I need to explain things about the Guardian's since apparently not everyone can see the reason's for how and why they act the way they do.**

 **1\. Now some may say that the Hunter acts like a Warlock, but I don't see how that is the case. I know Warlock's are supposed to be the 'smartest' of the three classes but that doesn't mean they can be the only ones with some brains. I mean Cayde was able to make Vex tech work for him and even designed his own cloaking tech along with making his own Handcannon, with some help, so being knowledgeable isn't a Warlock only trait.**

 **Plus I want the Warlock to seem more relatable as while I know they are basically immortal and have that 'thirst for knowledge' thing going, but in the end like any average person I feel that they have a certain subject that speaks to them more than the others. So while a Warlock may be knowledgeable on many things they may only have one subject they are truly passionate about. I mean look at Osiris and his complete devotion to studying the Vex and the Infinite Forrest. Plus I'd like to damn well see a Warlock debate combat tactics with Shaxx cause that boy would rip that Warlock a new asshole with just his words if not literally.**

 **2\. As I pointed out earlier on, the Guardian's do not trust and/or like aliens at this time. If anything they are just being tolerable cause playing nice with them, save for Chase's words to the Council, helps their goal in protecting humanity. So don't mistake their 'casual' approach as them being okay with aliens, but rather willing to put their personal feelings to the wayside for the sake of their mission as any real Guardian would.**

 **3\. For the Warlock sensing Mara, she was in the realm of the Nine, who no one really has any extensive knowledge about concerning their powers and such. So just because the Warlock has strong space magic don't just assume they are able to sense everything. Cause if they could then why didn't they get the heads up about Oryx, until after he had wiped out the Reef fleet, Ghaul's attack on the city or the death of Cayde in the Prison of Elders? Point being, just because they are a Warlock doesn't mean they can instantly find out, and sense anything just because of future seeing space magic.**

 **4\. I know the Nine only care about humanity cause if humanity dies so do they, so if you had read of Chase's plan concerning helping humanity earlier in the story, you wouldn't be asking on why they would be helping the Guardian's with the plan of helping Mass Effect's humanity so they can in turn help their Universes humanity. Can't believe I had to explain this crap cause if anything I think I was being too obvious.**

 **Also on a personal note, I'm getting kind of sick and tired of the crap about Warlock's. In most Destiny stories I read it always puts the Warlock as the leader or the main character and while I still enjoy the stories themselves, it gets a little old. Just because they have more abilities with the light than Titans and Hunter's does not make them better leaders or stronger than their fellow Guardian's. I mean, Zavala, a Titan, is the leader of his fireteam and the Vanguard and not Ikora, a Warlock. Why is that? It is because some are just better leaders than others personality wise.**

 **Okay, now that I've had my mandatory rant we can get on to the actual story.**

* * *

The trip back to the human embassy was uneventful for the most part, but even so no one dropped their guards. Thankfully there were no more attempts by Saren's goons and before long the entire team was back and were quickly greeted by Anderson and Udina.

The politician was looking very irate while the Alliance officer looked as serious as could be, but a little annoyance could be seen whenever his gaze landed on Udina.

"You aren't making my life easy Shepard. Firefights in the wards, an all out assault on Chora's Den. Do you know how many people.." started the human ambassador before he finally saw the new company with the commander, especially the quarian at the front which made him scowl, "who's this? A quarian? What are you up to Shepard?"

"This quarian can help us bring down Saren. I would've told you that if you hadn't jumped down my throat." replied Shepard with a bit of snark.

"I apologize, commander. This whole thing with Saren has me a bit on edge. Maybe we should start at the beginning, Miss..?" said Udina as he quickly diverted the conversation to Tali who was quick to introduce herself to the human ambassador.

"My name is Tali. Tali' Zorah nar Rayya."

"We don't see many quarians here. Why did you leave the flotilla?" asked Udina curiously.

Before Tali could answer Chase decided to throw his two sense in, " she's more than likely on her Pilgrimage."

"Pilgrimage?" asked Shepard as she was unfamiliar with quarian customs.

"Her right of passage into adulthood. When quarians reach a certain age they leave the flotilla in order to experience the galaxy as a whole and in order to complete their journey they must bring back something of value to the fleet and present it to the captain of the vessel they wish to join. If the captain accepts the gift then the 'nar' in their name is replaced with 'vas' with the name of the ship they serve coming after." explained Lexi surprising everyone present with the knowledge she just threw out there.

"Uh, that's right. How did you-?"

"Extranet." was the reply before Tali could finish her question.

There was a brief silence as everyone just stared at the Guardian's who spoke as they just stared back. Thankfully Shepard was able to break the silence as she turned back to Tali, "so what have ya got?"

Thankful to be free of the awkward silence Tali quickly picked up after Shepard, " during my travels I began hearing reports of geth. Since they drove my people into exile, the geth have never ventured beyond the Veil. I was curious. I tracked a patrol of geth to an uncharted world. I waited for one to become seperated from its unti. Then I disabled it an removed its memory core."

"I thought the geth fried their memory cores when they died. Some kind of defense mechanism." threw out Anderson before Shepard urged Tali to continue, thinking she would provide the answer to Anderson's unasked question.

"Most of the core was wiped clean. But I salvaged something from its audio banks." announced Tali as she then began to fiddle with her Omni-tool.

A few moment's later and a bit of static and the hard fought proof everyone sought was revealed, _"Eden Prime was a major victory! The beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the Conduit."_ said a voice that was most definitely Saren's.

"That's Saren's voice, this proves he was involved in the attack!" spoke Anderson with obvious joy at finally having the evidence to pin the bastard to the wall.

Shepard had a question that the recording brought up however, "he said Eden Prime brought him one step closer to finding the Conduit. Any idea what that means?"

"The Conduit must have something to do with the Beacon. Maybe it's some kind of Prothean technology... like a weapon." replied Anderson but Caleb stepped in with a retort.

"I don't think so, the Conduit sounds more like a tool than a weapon. Even if he was looking for a Prothean weapon, in this day the thing would not be in perfect working order and the only way to fix it would be if he had the blueprints." pointed out the Titan getiing nods of agreement all around as it did sound plausible.

"Wait... there's more. Saren wasn't working alone." interrupted Tali as she began to play the message again only when Saren finished speaking, another voice spoke up.

 _"And one step closer to the return of the Reapers."_

The second voice was undoubtedly female and sounded aged, not exactly old but more experienced.

"I don't recognize that other voice. The one talking about Reapers." spoke Udina.

"Are they some kind of new alien species I haven't heard about?" asked Shepard as the name sounded familiar but she couldn't place where she had heard the name before.

"According to the memory core, the Reapers were a hyper-advanced machine race that existed 50,000 years ago. The Reapers hunted the Protheans to total extinction, and then they vanished. At least, that's what the geth believe." explained Tali helpfully and Shepard and the Guardian's had a brief moments of realization as the info settled into place.

"Sounds a little far-fetched" accused Udina with heavy skepticism.

"The vision on Eden Prime," spoke Shepard as understanding colored her tone, "I understand it now. I saw the Protheans being wiped out by the Reapers."

"The geth revere the Reapers as gods, the pinnacle of non-organic life. And they believe Saren knows how to bring the Reapers back." added Tali.

"The Council is just going to love this!" stated Udina with heavy sarcasm.

"The Reapers are a threat to every species in Citadel space. We have to tell them." said Shepard with conviction.

"We can tell them Shepard, but whether they believe us or not is the problem." warned Chase as after one meeting he already had the Council pegged and knew nothing but an all out assault from the Reaper's would be enough to convince those morons that the Reapers were real.

"No matter what they think about the rest of this, those audio files prove Saren's a traitor." stated Anderson, trying to look on the upside of things.

"The captain's right. We need to present this to the Council right away." agreed Udina.

"What about her? The quarian?" asked the krogan tag along Wrex as he motioned to the mentioned person.

"My name is Tali! Let me come with you commander, I know I can help you and those three can vouch for me!" gestured Tali to the Guardian's.

Shepard turned her gaze to them and asked with a look what they suggested, she may not have known the three long but she knew they were experienced and since they were in that alley with Tali they would be the best judges of her skills. Sharing a brief look with each-other, Chase stepped forward to give their answer.

"We didn't see much honestly as we intervened before things got out of hand, but from what little we did see she's got a good head on her shoulders and can adapt well to the situation. Plus having an expert on the geth would most definitely come in handy down the road." explained the Hunter.

That was good enough for Shepard turned back to Tali, "in that case welcome aboard Tali."

Their new quarian crew mate was practically buzzing with happiness as she stepped into line with the rest of the squad, "thanks, you won't regret this!"

"Anderson and I will go ahead to get things ready with the Council. Take a few minutes to collect yourself, then meet us in the Tower. Especially you." stated Udina as he gestured to Chase at the end with his only reply being a half-hearted shrug from the Hunter.

After the two Alliance officials left Shepard turned towards Chase with a grin on her face, " so ready for round two with the big wigs."

"I think the better question would be, are the ready for me?" replied Chase with a shit eating grin that no one could see but could obviously hear in his tone of voice.

* * *

The trip to the Council's chambers were just as long as the last time, only now Chase could draw comfort in the fact that there were others to share the pain of the long ride in cramped quarters. From the elevator the group quickly made their way to the chambers where they spotted Anderson waiting for them.

Seeing them approach Anderson quickly waved them inside, "come on. Udina's presenting the quarian's evidence to the Council.

They arrived just in time to hear the end of the audio recording and as they walked up Udina gestured towards the Council with obvious smug, "you wanted proof, there it is!"

"This evidence is irrefutable Ambassador. Saren will be stripped of his Spectre status and all efforts will be made to bring him in to answer for his crimes." announced the turian Councilor Sparatus with great reluctance in his voice.

"I recognize the other voice, the one speaking with Saren. Matriarch Benezia." threw in the asari Councilor Tevos with shock.

"Who's she?" Shepard asked as she knew any ally of Saren's had to be someone dangerous, especially if one of the Councilor's was familiar with her.

"Matriarch's are powerful asari who have entered the final stage of their lives. Revered for their wisdom and experience, they serve as guides and mentors to my people. Matriarch Benezia is a powerful biotic, and she had many followers. She will make a formidable ally for Saren." informed Tevos.

"I'm more interested in the Reapers. What do you know about them?" interrupted the salarian Councilor Valern.

"Only what was extracted from the geth memory core. The Reapers were an ancient race of machines that wiped pout the Protheans. Then they vanished." explained Anderson while the Councilor's looked unamused by the information presented to them.

"The geth think the Reapers are gods, and Saren is the prophet for their return." threw in Shepard before Anderson continued.

"We think the Conduit is the key to bringing them back. Saren's searching for it, that's why he attacked Eden Prime."

"Do we even know what this Conduit is?" asked Valern.

"Saren thinks it can bring back the Reapers. That's bad enough." answered Shepard.

"Listen to what your saying! Saren wants to bring back the machines that wiped out all life in the galaxy? Impossible, it has to be." retorted Sparatus with disbelief, "where did the Reapers go? Why did they vanish? How come we've found no trace of their existence? If they were real, we'd have found something!"

"Saren obviously did." said Chase which drew all eye's to him.

"And how do you know Saren has found evidence of these Reapers existence?" asked Tevos reluctantly as she still remembered what had happened at the last trial with the Guardian.

"The proof is the geth themselves. Being AI, imperfect ones mind you, they deal in hard facts and evidence like any other machine. They would never follow an organic unless Saren presented absolute proof that not only did the Reapers exist but that he also served them. So obviously Saren has found some trace of their existence or he's actually been in contact with them." explained the Guardian getting murmers all around as the argument was sound but the Councilor's wereof a different mind.

"Regardless , you've proven Saren betrayed the Council and we all agree that he's using the geth to find the Counduit, but we don't really know why." said Tevos.

"Did this bitch not listen to the recording, it was pretty damn clear why." grumbled Cal.

"The Reapers are obviously just a myth, one Saren is using to bend the geth to his will." supported Valern.

"Fifty thousand year's ago the Reapers wiped out galactic civilization, and if Saren finds the Conduit it will happen again!" argued Shepard having grown fed up with the Council by this point.

"Saren is a rogue agent on the run for his life. He no longer has the rights or resources of a Spectre. The Council has stripped him of his position." waved off Sparatus which drew Udina's anger.

"That is not good enough! You know he's hiding somwher in the Traverse. Send your fleet in!" demanded the human official.

"A fleet cannot track down one man." replied Valern.

"But it could secure the entire region and keep the geth from attacking more of our colonies!" countered Udina.

"Or it could trigger war with the Terminus systems! We won't be dragged into a galactic confrontation over a few dozen human colonies!" declared Sparatus heatedly, and at this point a certain Titan could no longer keep his composure.

"Are you fucking kidding me!" roared Cal as he stepped forward, "you say Saren has no resources, but you admit that he has a highly respected asari Matriarch as his ally along with her followers, not to mention he has an army of geth that no one knows what they are even capable of! Now you say you won't risk war with the Terminus systems for a few 'human colonies'? From what I remember the Terminus system is full of nothing but merchs, pirates and slavers, not a whole other galactic governing body. Humanity joined the Citadel cause we were under the belief you would help and support humanity as long as we did the same, but so far humanity seems to be the only one pulling its weight. I will be damned if I let you treat human lives as so little that you completely ignore the horrors of what happened on Eden Prime and try to justify your refusal to help us when we ask for it, especially when it's your very own agent that threatens them!"

The Titan's speech completely silenced the room as his words shot through the air and slammed into everyone with the force of a mass effect round. The sheer anger and frustration was enough to send most stumbling, but the sheer ferocity seemed to reinforce this fact. As Caleb spoke he couldn't help but remember all those dead he saw on Eden Prime, and couldn't help but revel in the fact that he was helpless to save them, despite it being his sworn duty to protect humanity.

When he saw that he then couldn't help but imagine the same thing happening to other human colonies and would not allow it to pass! He was a Titan dammit! He was the wall that innocents hid behind to protect from danger and he was the battering ram that broke down the walls of the Darkness minions where they thought they could hide from his light. His team had failed Eden Prime but he would not fail again, even if he had to tear down the entire Council and Citadel to do so.

It was the hands of his teammates on his shoulders that let him relax as pulled him back. While Lexi continued to comfort the emotionally charged Guardian Chase took his place in the spotlight.

"Cal is right. Humanity now is threatened by Saren and his forces. A former Spectre under _your_ service now threatens _us_ and you refuse to aid us against him. One would think you support his actions."

"We do not support Saren!" declared Tevos as she could already see the political nightmare heading their way from just the Titan's speech alone, but add in the Hunter that gave them major problems already on top of that? The entire foundation and all the faith everyone had of the Council could very well be in jeopardy

"We don't care for your words Councilor. Word's will not give us the protection that our people need, actions will. If you cannot act in the protection of those who need and ask for it, then what is the point of this Council? A governing body that let's those it is supposed to help suffer is more akin to tyranny. Debate all you want on why you shouldn't help humanity, but while you dabte with words we will be working to make sure that the remaining human colonies we have don't end up like Eden Prime. If you won't help us, then stay out of our way." finished Lexi as she and Chase led Caleb out of the Council chambers.

The Titan was having an emotional moment, and while they would like to see the end result of the meeting the wellbeing of their teammate took precedence. What none of the Councilor's knew however, was that throughout the entire affair the Guardian's Ghost's were broadcasting the meeting live for all in the galaxy to bear witness to. There would be no coverup the Council could pull now. They wanted to treat humanity as a lesser concern, then they would pay for it in the most painful ways. If there was one thing that Fireteam Rogue was good at, it was making sure they hit their enemies where it hurt the most, and without a shred of mercy.

* * *

 **Review and/or PM me!**


End file.
